Hernán Alejandro Makse

Professor of Physics
Levich Institute and
Physics Department
City College of New York
Steinman Hall, T1M-12
140th Street and Convent Avenue
New York, NY 10031-9198
(212) 650-6847, (212) 650-6835 (fax)
Hernan

Hernan email

This is the Jam lab of Hernán Makse at the Levich Institute and Department of Physics of City College of New York in New York City. Our group consists of graduate students Ping Wang, Kun Wang, Chris Briscoe, Yuliang Jin and Eli Lansey from the Physics Department, and postdocs Hernan Diego Rozenfeld and Diego Rybski, Lazaros Gallos and Shomeek Mukhopadhyay.

We try follow the precepts of the Chinese Tao-te Ching (in Sanskrit): "He who thinks he knows, does not know. He who knows that he does not know, knows. For in this context, to know is not to know. And not to know is to know," since "one thing only we know, and that is that we know nothing," paraphrasing Socrates. In a more poetic way, we remember the great Don Atahualpa Yupanqui--- commemorating “El Año Yupanquiano&rdquo, 100 years of his natalicio--- saying: ... cuando se abandona el pago, y se empieza a repechar, tira el caballo adelante, y el alma tira pa' tras..."

  • Find my baby, by Moby:

      I cant find my baby,
      Whouh,
      Before that sun goes down..

  • They call you ecstasy. From Lou Reed Boston concert, year 2000, with Diego Langtry.

      Nothing ever sticks to you
      Not velcro, not scotch tape
      Not my arms dipped in glue

      Not if I wrap myself in nylon
      A piece of duct tape down my back
      Love pierced the arrow with the twelve
      And I cant get you back

      Ah, ecstasy
      Ecstasy
      Ah, ecstasy

      Across the streets an old ford, they took off its wheels
      The engine is gone
      In its seat sits a box
      With a note that says, goodbye charlie, thanks a lot

      I see a child through a window with a bib
      And I think of us and what we almost did
      The hudson rocketing with light
      The ships pass the statue of liberty at night

      They call it ecstasy, ah
      Ecstasy
      Ecstasy, ah
      Ecstasy

      Some men call me st. ivory
      Some call me st. maurice
      Im smooth as alabaster
      With white veins runnin through my cheeks

      A big stud through my eyebrow
      A scar on my arm that says, domain
      I put it over the tattoo
      That contained your name

      They called you ecstasy, ecstasy
      Ecstasy
      They call you ecstasy, ecstasy
      Ecstasy

      The moon passing through a cloud
      A body facing up is floating towards a crowd
      And I think of a time and what I couldnt do
      I couldnt hold you close, I couldnt, I couldnt become you

      They call you ecstasy, I cant hold you down
      I cant hold you up
      I feel like that car that I saw today, no radio
      No engine, no hood

      Im going to the cafe, I hope theyve got music
      And I hope that they can play
      But if we have to part
      Ill have a new scar right over my heart
      Ill call it ecstasy

      Oh, ecstasy, ecstasy
      Ecstasy
      Ecstasy, ecstasy
      Ecstasy

  • Al final de cuentas era como decia Pablo: "la vida es una sucesion de asados."

  • Los Chalchaleros have always something to said in the words of the most beatiful zamba ever written:

  • La Lopez Pereira:

      Yo quisiera olvidarte;
      Me es imposible,
      Mi bien, mi bien.

      Tu imagen me persigue,
      Tuya es mi vida,
      Mi amor también.

      Y cuando pensativo,
      Yo solo estoy.
      Deliro con la falsia,
      Con que ha pagado. Tu amor, mi amor.

      Si yo pudiera tenerte,
      A mi lado todo el día,
      De mis ocultos amores.
      Paloma, te contaría.

      Pero, es inutil mi anhelo,
      Jamás, jamás.
      Vivo sólo para amarte,
      Callado y triste: Llorar, llorar.

      Me han dicho, Que no me quieres;
      Pero eso no es un motivo.
      Me privas de tu mirada,
      Mi alma; sin ella no vivo.

      Voy a esconderme.
      A una selva sólo a llorar.
      Pueda ser que, En mi destierro,
      Tus ojos negros pueda olvidar.

      Un dia, de manianita,
      Al cielo azul mire, mire
      Contemplando a las estrellas,
      A la mas bella le pregunte .

      Si era ella la que alumbraba,
      Mi amor, mi amor;
      Para pedir por ella,
      Al dios piadoso, resignacion

  • Llorare (excerpt):

      Llorare, Llorare, En un Silencio profundo.
      Llorare, Llorare, solo y triste en este mundo.

      Llevare, Llevare.
      Llevare dentro de mi alma,
      El dolor, el dolor,
      El dolor del bien perdido.

      Cantare, Cantare,
      Con amargo desenganio,
      Al amor, al amor,
      al amor que quiese tanto......

    • In our free time, we also try to focus on the study of jammed matter, spanning from colloidal suspensions, dense emulsions to granular materials and glasses in search of unifying theoretical frameworks. We explore this variety of out of equilibrium systems in terms of their behavior as they experience structural arrest or jamming. The group focuses on the theoretical and computational approaches in parallel with the experiments, creating a productive research environment. We are also interested in the theoretical understanding of complexity. We are working towards the development of new arquitectural laws for complex networks, from biological systems, to the Internet, the web, to social networks. BB

    For the latest research, see the presentations on jamming, complex networks, and elasticity.

    Our general research interests include a broad range of topics in soft matter physics and complex systems such as:

    CURRICULUM VITAE

    Updated CV click here: postscript or pdf .

    PUBLICATION LIST

     Most of the papers can be found in the cond-mat data base. Updated publication list click here: postscript or pdf .

    TEACHING

    SPECIALS

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