Arjun Yodh Helps Uncover Mechanism Behind Solid-Solid Phase Transitions

Working in collaboration with researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Arjun Yodh, director of the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter and James M. Skinner Professor of Science, published an article in Nature Materials on solid-solid phase transitions. These transitions occur when two solids made of the same elements but with different geometric arrangements of the atoms, or crystal phases, produce materials with different properties—diamonds and coal are a vivid example. The team found that some crystals have an easier time of making the solid-solid transition if they take it in two steps. The observations provide new insight for all sorts of solid-solid phase transformations, and have potential implications for development and manufacture of alloys, as well as natural processes that occur deep within Earth's mantle.

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Arts & Sciences News

Azuma and Hart Named Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professors of American History

Eiichiro Azuma specializes in Asian American and transpacific history, while Emma Hart teaches and researches the history of early North America, the Atlantic World, and early modern Britain between 1500 and 1800.

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Arts & Sciences Students Honored during 37th Annual Women of Color Day

Sade Taiwo, C’25, and Kyndall Nicholas, a Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience, were honored for their work.

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Nine College Students and Alums Named Thouron Scholars; Will Pursue Graduate Studies in the U.K.

The Scholars are six seniors and three recent graduates whose majors range from neuroscience to communication.

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Irma Elo Named Tamsen and Michael Brown Presidential Professor in Sociology

Elo’s main research interests center on inequalities in health and mortality across the life course and demographic estimation of mortality. In recent years, she has extended her research to include predictors of cognition in high-, middle-, and low-income countries.

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Julia Hartmann Named Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor in Mathematics

She specializes in algebra and arithmetic geometry, a newer field that applies techniques from algebraic geometry to solve problems in number theory and co-developed the method of field patching.

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Holger Sieg Named Baird Term Professor of Economics

Sieg focuses his research on public and urban economics, as well as the political economy of state and local governments.

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