Prof. Ning Xu (徐宁 教授)
Email: ningxu@ustc.edu.cn
Office Phone: +86-551-63607970
Research Overview
Our group studies the statistical physics of soft condensed matter and complex materials, with emphasis on amorphous systems and nonequilibrium phenomena. The main research areas include amorphous liquid-solid transitions, the physical nature of amorphous solids, crystallization and melting, nonequilibrium statistical physics, rheology, and mechanical metamaterials.
We aim to connect microscopic structure and dynamics to macroscopic stability, elasticity, yielding, relaxation, flow, and phase-transition-like behavior. By combining theoretical modeling, numerical simulations, and data analysis, we seek to build clear physical pictures for disordered and driven materials.
Research Topics
Amorphous Liquid-Solid Transitions
Glass transition, jamming transition, structural relaxation, marginal stability, and the emergence of rigidity in disordered systems.
Nature Of Amorphous Solids
Structural order, vibrational modes, local indicators, stability, elasticity, and yielding of ordinary and ultrastable amorphous solids.
Crystallization And Melting
Nucleation, growth, melting, competition between crystalline and non-crystalline order, and transformation pathways in simple liquids and soft materials.
Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics
Aging, driven dynamics, nonlinear response, rare events, fluctuations, and collective behavior far from equilibrium.
Rheology
Flow, shear response, viscosity, yielding, and deformation mechanisms of amorphous, colloidal, granular, and polymeric systems.
Metamaterials
Design principles, emergent mechanical response, and programmable behavior in architected soft and disordered materials.