Ard Louis has moved to Oxford

The interdisciplinary research in our group straddles the border between theoretical chemistry and physics, applied mathematics and biology. We focus on how complex behaviour in many-particle systems emerges from the underlying interactions between individual particles. In particular, we study complex fluids/soft matter such as colloids, polymers, or proteins in solution, using the tools of statistical mechanics -- especially analytic theories and computer simulations -- to better understand the behaviour of these fascinating systems. "Coarse-graining", where a subset of the (microscopic) degrees of freedom are integrated out to yield a simpler and more tractable problem, is a common theme in these descriptions.

Selected Publications

Extending Linear Response: Inferences from Electron-Ion Structure Factors, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 4456 (1998)

Can Polymer Coils be modelled as "Soft Colloids", Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2522 (2000)

Influence of polymer excluded volume on the phase behavior of colloid--polymer mixtures, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 128302 (2002)

Non-monotonic variation with salt concentration of the second virial coefficient in protein solutions, Phys. Rev. E 67, 051494 (2003)

Colloid-polymer mixtures in the protein limit, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 068304 (2003)

Inhibition of protein crystallization by evolutionary negative design, Physical Biology 1, 9 (2004)

Hydrodynamic and Brownian Fluctuations in Sedimenting Suspensions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 220601 (2004)

Dynamic colloidal stabilization by nanoparticle halos, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 248303 (2004)