People

Sunghan Ro is a theoretical physicist whose research focuses on the statistical physics of soft and living matter, both in and out of equilibrium. His recent work studies collective behavior in active matter, including biological systems such as bacteria and animals and synthetic systems such as colloids and robots. He has shown how broken time-reversal symmetry gives rise to unusual responses to disorder and fluctuations, including the fragility of phase separation and the instability of certain forms of polar order. His current interests include new mechanisms of activity, symmetry-dependent responses in nonequilibrium systems, and the design of microscopic dynamics that control emergent macroscopic behavior.