Maria Cristina Marchetti (born 1955) is an Italian-born,

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

theoretical

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

specializing in statistical physics and

condensed matter physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the sub ...

. In 2019, she received the Leo P. Kadanoff Prize of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

. She held the

William R. Kenan, Jr. William Rand Kenan Jr. (April 30, 1872 – July 28, 1965) was an American chemist, engineer, manufacturer, dairy farmer, and philanthropist. Early life William Rand Kenan Jr. was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, on April 30, 1872., son of Willi ...

Distinguished Professorship of Physics at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, where she was the director of the Soft and Living Matter program, and chaired the department 2007-2010. She is currently Professor of Physics at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

Education

M. Cristina Marchetti was trained as a physicist at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

in Italy. She studied out-of-equilibrium physics for her graduate degree and received a PhD degree from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 1982. Her PhD thesis was entitled "Fluctuations in systems far from equilibrium."

Professional career

Marchetti was an assistant professor at

from 1987 to 1997. She then became a professor at

from 1997 to 2018. She is now professor at

. Marchetti was appointed co lead-editor of the journal '' Physical Review X'' (''PRX''), a journal run by the

(APS) in 2016. She leads the journal with Jean-Michel Raimond, a professor of physics at the

Université Pierre et Marie Curie Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the La ...

in Paris, France. She was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society's (APS) Division of Condensed Matter Physics in 2000 (search on year=2000 and institution=Syracuse University) for "contributions to the theory of the dynamics of vortex matter and charge-density waves," and was vice-chair and chair of the APS Group of Statistical and Nonlinear Physics from 2005 to 2008. She became a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

(AAAS) in 2013 and a fellow of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 2019. She became a co-editor of the ''

Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics The ''Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics'' is an annual peer-reviewed review journal published by Annual Reviews. It was established in 2010 and covers advances in condensed matter physics and related subjects. The co-editors are M. Cristin ...

'' as of 2017.

Research

Marchetti has made a contribution to the development of the field of

active matter Active matter is matter composed of large numbers of active "agents", each of which consumes energy in order to move or to exert mechanical forces. Such systems are intrinsically out of thermal equilibrium. Unlike thermal systems relaxing toward ...

, which is matter composed of self-propelled energy-consuming particles. Her research focuses on understanding the structure, phase transitions and

rheology Rheology (; ) is the study of the flow of matter, primarily in a fluid ( liquid or gas) state, but also as "soft solids" or solids under conditions in which they respond with plastic flow rather than deforming elastically in response to an appl ...

of suspensions and gels made of active matter systems like self-propelled particles, biological filaments and biological

cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

. Marchetti is particularly interested in understanding the behavior of cell colonies that grow in confined geometries such as those found in animal and human tissues. The bulk mechanical properties of these colonies can reveal how the cells in the tissues interact, a problem Marchetti studies theoretically.

Family

Marchetti is married to theoretical physicist

Mark Bowick Mark John Bowick (born 1957) is a theoretical physicist in condensed matter theory and high energy physics. He is the deputy director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Visiting D ...

. They have two adult children, Micol and Ale Marchetti-Bowick.

Honors and awards

* Fellow of the

, Division of Condensed Matter Physics (elected 2000) * Chancellor's Citation for Academic Achievement,

, 2005 * Fellow of the

(elected 2013) * Fellow of the

(elected 2019) *

Leo P. Kadanoff Prize The Leo P. Kadanoff Prize is awarded annually by the American Physical Society (APS) for outstanding research in statistical or nonlinear physics. The research can be theoretical, experimental, or computational. The award was established by the AP ...

Publications

References

External links

Marchetti on Google Scholar

Marchetti Group, UC Santa Barbara
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchetti, M. Cristina Italian women physicists 1955 births Living people University of Pavia alumni University of Florida alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Annual Reviews (publisher) editors Syracuse University faculty