Boris Shraiman is a theoretical physicist working on

statistical physics Statistical physics is a branch of physics that evolved from a foundation of statistical mechanics, which uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approxi ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...

. He is a Permanent Member of the

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara. KITP is one of the most renowned institutes for theoretical physics in the world, and brings theorists in physics and rela ...

and the Susan F Gurley Professor of Theoretical Physics and Biology at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the ...

Biography

Shraiman earned a PhD from Harvard in 1983 and did postdoctoral work at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in the James Franck Institute. In his early work, Shraiman addressed how dynamical systems transition to chaos and how patterns form in viscous flows and dendritic growth. He moved to

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

, where he worked on quantum materials, then later became a professor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

in 2002 and the

in 2004. He has advanced the understanding of

turbulent In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...

fluids, and since the 1990s, his work has built connections between statistical physics and biological problems. In particular, his research has pointed to the interplay between mechanics and

morphogenesis Morphogenesis (from the Greek ''morphê'' shape and ''genesis'' creation, literally "the generation of form") is the biological process that causes a cell, tissue or organism to develop its shape. It is one of three fundamental aspects of deve ...

, which addresses the problem of "growth and form" in animal development, and developed models to describe evolutionary dynamics in populations such as

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

. He became a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2011.

References

External links

www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/20015876.html Boris I. Shraiman at NAS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shraiman, Boris Living people University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Rutgers University faculty Harvard University alumni 1956 births