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)
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This is the 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 from the Physics Department, and postdocs Hernán Diego Rozenfeld, Diego Rybski and Lazaros Gallos.

Science-wise, we 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.

For the latest research, see the presentations on jamming, complex networks, and elasticity. To download data and computer codes from MD of granular matter, to fractal analysis of complex networks and cities, to experimental data on colloids and glasses visit SOFTWARE AND DATA.

We are currently hiring a postdoc in Complex Networks or Jammed Matter. Please send us your curriculum if interested.

In a broader context, we try to follow the precepts of the Chinese Tao-te Ching (in Sanskrit according to Joseph Campbell): "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... Similarly, Eduardo Falu sings in Tiempos de Partir:

Qué me puede importar, después de todo, el trance de partir, si yo he logrado, llenar cada minuto transcurrido, con un claro vivir enamorado; si la vida no fue, en definitiva, sólo un motivo para haber amado.

Qué me puede importar el corto tiempo que resta por vivir, si la jornada tiene un punto final ya establecido y la vida es la muerte demorada; si hay un tiempo de amar, que ya he vivido, y otro de soledad, olvido y nada...

(Estribillo) Tras los cerros, de a poco, como en lenta agonía, dibujando ceibales, muere, lejano, el día... Renacerá la luz, y nuevamente cobrará su perfil la serranía.

Un tiempo de partir va señalando , la urgencia de vivir como yo quiera: el rigor del invierno justifica, el ansia de gozar la primavera; si no puedo encontrar la buena senda, prefiero equivocarme a mi manera...

Quiero quedarme, aún, cuando me vaya, en la memoria de quienes me han querido, en los versos triviales que repita con su cantar algún desconocido; o regresar en el perfil de un hijo como ese amanecer que ha renacido...

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