Galen T. Pickett

Professor, Condensed Matter Theory
Undergraduate Advisor

Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1995
B.S., MIT, 1989

Location:
Office: Hall of Science (HSCI), Room 260

California State University, Long Beach
Department of Physics & Astronomy
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840-9505

Phone: (562) 985-4934 Office
Fax: (562) 985-7924
Email: gpickett@csulb.edu@csulb.edu

Webpage:
http://www.csulb.edu/~gpickett/

Research Interest:
Condensed Matter Theory, Polymers, Membranes.

I am keenly interested in complex systems, particularly systems involving many, many simple constituents interacting through relatively simple interactions. These "in principle" simple systems often display unusual, sometimes breathtakingly graceful, collective patterns. The geometric patterns block copolymers exhibit, liquid crystalline phases, chiral columns formed spontaneously by packing, and the fractal geometry characterizing the geometry of single polymer molecules are all problems I have worked on. At present, I am concentrating on computer models for the behavior of rigid, though scored, membranes as a molecular-scale laboratory for origami experiments I can execute in paper.