The Rycroft Group is part of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. The group is led by Chris Rycroft and focuses on mathematical modeling and scientific computation, particularly for interdisciplinary applications in science and engineering.
The Rycroft Group works on a wide range of topics. A hallmark of the group's approach is to develop new computational methods while working directly with domain scientists. Three particular focus areas are listed below.
Many materials of scientific importance are hard to simulate, due to challenges resolving multiple phases or components, disparate timescales, and large deformations. We developed a new numerical method for bulk metallic glasses and used it to predict their failure properties, which were later verified experimentally. We co-developed the reference map technique, a new approach for simulating fluid–structure interaction.
Many scientific fields are increasingly awash in data. We develop new computational approaches for processing data and extracting scientific insight, particularly those that combine traditional analysis and modeling with new machine learning methods. For example, we have a sequence of papers on the physics of crumpling, covering experimental observations, new machine learning approaches, and analysis and modeling.
Geometry problems appear across many scales, from the arrangements of atoms to the structure of galaxies, and techniques for geometric analysis enter into many group projects. Chris Rycroft developed Voro++, a software library for calculating the Voronoi tessellation. The library is widely used, and the Rycroft Group has used it for problems as diverse as modeling insect wing patterning and finding materials for carbon dioxide capture.
The Rycroft Group currently consists of twelve graduate students, along with postdocs, undergraduates, and sabbatical visitors. Members have a diverse range of backgrounds and have education in applied mathematics, physics, engineering, and computer science. We also like obsessive color coordination!
We collaborate with a wide range of researchers at Harvard and beyond, and we are involved in a several collaborative centers including the Harvard MRSEC and the Quantitative Biology Initiative.
We also support teaching a wide range of courses in the Harvard Applied
Mathematics program and in the Harvard
IACS master's program. In particular, since 2014 Chris Rycroft has taught
and developed Applied
Math 205 and Applied
Math 225, a year-long graduate course sequence in scientific computing.
Many group members have been involved as Teaching Fellows for these two
courses.