Adil Mughal

I am a theoretical physicist working on packing problems and the effects of geometry & topology in soft matter & biology.


Research Highlights

Images from recent publications that highlight our research.

Line slip arrangements observed in wet foams

The image on the left shows a perfect “maximal-contact” structure while the image on the right is a “line-slip” arrangment in which there are gaps between bubbles.

Scutoid in foam

Recently a novel type of epithelial cell has been discovered and dubbed the ‘scutoid’. It is induced by curvature of the bounding surfaces. We show by simulations and experiments (above image) that such cells are to be found in a dry foam subjected to this boundary condition.


Buckling of a tilted line of confined hard spheres

A linear chain of hard spheres confined in a transverse harmonic potential is unstable and buckles, …

Description of the buckling of a chain of hard spheres in terms of Jacobi functions

A linear chain of hard spheres, confined by a transverse harmonic potential, buckles under compressi…

Peierls-Nabarro potential for a confined chain of hard spheres under compression

Examples of bifurcation diagrams are presented for a chain of hard spheres under compression, which …

Geompack

A new virtual seminar series called GEOMPACK (geompack.com) aims to bring together researchers from …

Buckling of a linear chain of hard spheres

We extend a previous analysis of the buckling properties of a linear chain of hard spheres between h…

Columnar structures of soft spheres: metastability and hysteresis

Previously we reported on the stable (i.e. minimal enthalpy) structures of soft monodisperse spheres…

Theory of rotational columnar structures of soft spheres

There is a growing interest in cylindrical structures of hard and soft particles. A promising new me…

Demonstration and interpretation of “scutoid” cells in a quasi-2D soap froth

Recently a novel type of epithelial cell has been discovered and dubbed the “scutoid”. I…