R.K.P. Zia
The
Office of the Vice President for Research recognizes physics Professor
R.K.P. Zia for research in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics.
He uses statistical mechanics to study driven diffusive systems
-- systems with too many constituents to be described in detail, and
being driven far from equilibrium, too complex to be understood within
the established framework of equilibrium statistical mechanics. Along
with fundamental issues in theoretical physics, he is motivated by
practical problems -- from protein synthesis to mass transport.
His
research focuses on the common question: How do complex macroscopic
patterns emerge from a few simple dynamical rules governing the
evolution of microscopic constituents? Zia has been known to use
traffic jams and gatherings of children as examples. He looks for the
bare essentials needed to produce complex behavior, through the study
of simple model systems, so as to predict very general properties
observed in a gamut of physical phenomena.
Homepage
Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics group
Articles
2007 Physicist named Fellow in the American Physical Society
2001 Zia receives Humboldt research award
