Research

I am particularly interested in the analytical and numerical modelling of the statistical properties of complex matter ranging from biological systems to powders.

My current research interests are:

Statistical aspects in jammed granular matter

Evolution of the mean packing fraction during a tapping experiment described as a fix point on a jamming curve (Mol.Phys. 2013)

 

Defining entropy for granular materials: linking packing structures to minima of an energy landscape and their probability of occurrence to the size of their corresponding basins of attraction enables one to define a protocol-dependent granular entropy (PRL 2014)

 

Time evolution of an ensemble volume histogram of a granular system undergoing a vertical tapping protocol (PRL 2012)

Effective interactions mediated by ions in solutions

Matching between a
Poisson-Boltzmann toy model and a Monte Carlo description for a sphere or an indented cylinder in interaction with a cylinder (PCCP 2011)

 

Sketch of the crossover between a single particle description and an effective Poisson-Boltzmann description of a counterion density at a plate in the Strong Coupling regime (PRE 2011)

Coarse grain modeling of biomolecules

Non trivial counterion-
mediated repulsion observed for a minimalmodel of a protein-DNA system (PRL 2009)

 

 

 

Kornyshev-Leikin model of two “counterion-dressed” DNAs in presence of multivalent ions  (SoftMatter 2012)

Dynamics of a protein next to a DNA segment

Effective free energy
landscape on which
evolves a DNA-binding protein. Sliding and jumping processes are recovered
(PRL 2009)

 

 

Sketch of what is believed to be the general behavior of most DNA-binding proteins around DNA. The effective use of different modes of  displacement is believed to enhance the search time for a specific target on DNA (Adv.Prot.Chem.Struc. 2013)

Thermodynamics of mixtures

Mapping of the problem of demixing two polydisperse systems onto that of resetting one bit of information with a certain probability of success (J. Stat. Mech. 2014)

PublicImageCompetition between curvature and line tension in the phase separation of a binary mixture on a triply periodic minimal surface (Phys. Rev. Lett. 2016).

 

 

graphical_abstract2-dimensional Critical Casimir Effect between anistropic inclusions: the case of objects comprising multiple domains with opposite affinities with the surrounding critical mixture (Phys. Chem.Chem.Phys 2017).