Grier Lab

This site describes research in soft condensed matter physics performed by David Grier’s group at New York University. Through experiments on model systems, we aim to understand the processes by which microscopic interactions among simple objects give rise to hierarchies of order and function in natural and engineered materials. The fundamental organizing principles underlying those processes not only explain a host of natural phenomena, but also offer guidance for creating novel materials and technologies.

Our long-term focus is on understanding and controlling the interactions, dynamics, and collective properties of hierarchically-structured many-body systems. Examples range from electrostatic interactions in dispersions of micrometer-scale colloids to wave-mediated interactions in millimeter-scale levitated matter. We have developed techniques for characterizing and probing these soft materials with exquisite precision, and these techniques have revealed fundamental organizing principles for systems out of equilibrium, including emergent activity, kinetically locked-in transport, and Brownian vortex flows. We also have uncovered fascinating conundrums such as anomalous like-charge attractions in charge-stabilized colloids, and have brought science fiction to life by demonstrating the world’s first functional tractor beams.

To enable these studies, we develop platform experimental techniques that have been widely adopted for soft-matter research, including Holographic Optical Trapping, Total Holographic Characterization, and the Crocker-Grier algorithm for particle tracking. We propagate these innovations through open-source distribution and by founding entrepreneurial start-up companies.

Work at NYU is supported by the National Science Foundation through Award DMR-2428983.