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)
Hernan

Hernan email

This is the Jam 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 and Eli Lansey from the Physics Department, and postdocs Hernan Diego Rozenfeld and Diego Rybski, Lazaros Gallos and Shomeek Mukhopadhyay.

We try follow the precepts of the Chinese Tao-te Ching (in Sanskrit): "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 when he said: "... cuando se abandona el pago, y se empieza a repechar, tira el caballo adelante, y el alma tira pa' tras..."

More closely to our heart, Los Chalchaleros have always something to said in the words of the most beatiful zamba ever written:

  • La Lopez Pereira:

    Yo quisiera olvidarte;
    Me es imposible,
    Mi bien, mi bien.

    Tu imagen me persigue,
    Tuya es mi vida,
    Mi amor también.

    Y cuando pensativo,
    Yo solo estoy.
    Deliro con la falsia,
    Con que ha pagado. Tu amor, mi amor.

    Si yo pudiera tenerte,
    A mi lado todo el día,
    De mis ocultos amores.
    Paloma, te contaría.

    Pero, es inútil mi anhelo,
    Jamás, jamás.
    Vivo sólo para amarte,
    Callado y triste: Llorar, llorar.

    Me han dicho, Que no me quieres;
    Pero eso no es un motivo.
    Me privas de tu mirada,
    Mi alma; sin ella no vivo.

    Voy a esconderme.
    A una selva sólo a llorar.
    Pueda ser que, En mi destierro,
    Tus ojos negros pueda olvidar.

    Un día, de mañanita,
    Al cielo azul miré, miré.
    Contemplando a las estrellas,
    A la más bella le pregunté .

    Si era ella la que alumbraba,
    Mi amor, mi amor;
    Para pedir por ella,
    Al dios piadoso, resignación.

  • Llorare (excerpt):

    Llorare, Llorare, En un Silencio profundo.
    Llorare, Llorare, solo y triste en este mundo.

    Llevare, Llevare.
    Llevare dentro de mi alma,
    El dolor, el dolor,
    El dolor del bien perdido.

    Cantare, Cantare,
    Con amargo desenganio,
    Al amor, al amor,
    al amor que quiese tanto......

  • In our free time, we also try to 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. BB

    For the latest research, see the presentations on jamming, complex networks, and elasticity.

    Our general research interests include a broad range of topics in soft matter physics and complex systems such as:

    CURRICULUM VITAE

    Updated CV click here: postscript or pdf .

    PUBLICATION LIST

    Most of the papers can be found in the cond-mat data base. Updated publication list click here: postscript or pdf .

    TEACHING

    SPECIALS

    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________