Aleksandr Rodin
Assistant Professor
Yale-NUS College
&
Centre for Advanced 2D Materials,
National University of Singapore
About
I am a theoretical physicist at Yale-NUS College, specializing in condensed matter. I received my BS in Physics from the University of Southern California in 2007 and my Ph.D. in 2012 from the University of California, San Diego. Following two years of postdoctoral work with Boston University, I moved to Singapore in 2014 to join the Centre of Advanced 2D Materials. I became a member of the Yale-NUS Division of Science in 2018.
Research
Condensed matter physics is an extensive area of research. Our group uses a combination of analytical and numerical methods to study solid-state systems. Our primary research directions are the electronic properties of low-dimensional systems, phonon Casimir effect, and ionic transport in solid materials.
Low-D Systems
Reduced dimensionality of one- and two-dimensional systems set them apart from their 3-D cousins. We study the effects of impurities and collective excitations in these systems. Our goal is to predict and explain experimental observations using first-principles and analytical methods.
Phonon Casimir Effect
The zero-point motion of atoms in crystals gives rise to an interaction between defects in the system. Using quantum field theory, we investigate this phononic variation of the celebrated Casimir effect.
Ion Transport in Solids
Foreign ions in a solid can undergo diffusion due to their interaction with the host material or drift due to an external field. We use a combination of first-principles calculations and non-equilibrium field theory to study this exciting behavior.
Teaching
Scientific Inquiry 2: Modeling and Simulation
Scientific literacy is an important skill in the 21st century. In this Common Core module students learn to ask not only "What do we know?", but also "How do we know it?" They develop their scientific thinking through exposure to a wide variety of sources, as well as working with real data and modeling.
Computational Methods in Physical Sciences
This module focuses on computational thinking as applied to problems in physical science. A selection of real-world problems are chosen to illustrate problem formulation, solution development and interpretation as well as analysis of the solutions and data visualization.
Mathematical Methods in Physical Sciences
This course introduces the students to a set of mathematical tools that one encounters in physical sciences. Topics include multivariable calculus, vector calculus, linear algebra, ordinary differential equations, and Fourier series.