Richard Darst
Email: ude.aibmuloc@7012dkrWeb: http://rkd.zgib.net/
Research Interests
My research is focused on a theoretical understanding of the nature of glassy dynamics.
Despite scientists having studied the glass transition for decades, the theoretical underpinnings of it are not yet well understood. One dominant hypothesis is that of kinetically constrained models, that is, that glassy dynamics (huge slowdown in dynamics, non-exponential relaxation, and dynamic heterogeneity) are fundamentally caused by the blocking of transitions. Another, more recent and less well studied hypothesis is that of thermodynamically constrained models, that postulate that the blocking of configurations is the root cause of glassy dynamics.
Despite these two hypotheses existing, little has been done to distinguish between them. My work is focused on studying differences between these points of view. I have developed a new thermodynamic model, and compared it and other thermodynamic models to many examples of kinetic models.
In my free time, I contribute to Debian and Debian NYC, as well as the occasional other free software project.
Education
- Ph.D. Candidate, Chemical Physics, Columbia University, 2012 (Advisor: David Reichman)
- B.S. Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, 2007 (Advisor: Peter Rossky)
Publications
- , Dynamical heterogeneity in lattice glass models. J. Chem. Phys. 132, 044510 (2010).
- , Mechanistic elements of protein cold denaturation. J. Phys. Chem. B 112, 19 (2008).
- , Origins of nonexponential decay in single molecule measurements of rotational dynamics. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 173001 (2005).