L. Mahadevan

Mahadevan studies motion and matter at the human scale, where phenomena are robust and easy to observe, merely by wandering (and wondering) about the world with nothing more than a sense of (whimsical?) curiosity. Areas of interest include the patterns of shape and flow of inanimate matter on scales ranging from the supramolecular to the planetary, and the dynamics of sentient living matter that can self-organize, perceive and act. In all cases, the aim is to get at a qualitative understanding using quantitative methods and get at general principles, if there be such, from answers to specific questions. Inevitably the studies combine experiments, theory and computation, with results that range from new observations to theorems, algorithms, and even a few patents. 

Current interests include the physical principles underlying morphogenesis across scales in both developmental and evolutionary settings, ethology and cognition at the individual and the collective dynamics, embodied intelligence in humans and animals, and the behavior of social insects such as bees, termites, and ants. Past work, some of which is still of interest, includes observations of and theories for patterns and dynamics in soft structures, interfaces, fluids and materials,  the mathematics underlying art forms such as origami, kirigami and its relatives, and the dynamics of musical instruments such as musical saws and steelpan drums, etc. 

Mahadevan is a MacArthur Fellow, a Simons Investigator, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.