https://trungphan.squarespace.com/about daily 0.75 2026-08-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/8de1f90c-d4f2-4c8d-8bc6-3d4be8f37f63/TrP.jpg https://trungphan.squarespace.com/research daily 0.75 2026-08-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/c3b932a4-1028-460d-8329-725402121a49/ChatGPT+Image+Mar+29%2C+2025%2C+06_00_25+PM.png Publications A cool AI-generated image of me and what they think I might be doing! To find out what I really am up to, please take a look below! https://trungphan.squarespace.com/gallery daily 0.75 2026-08-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/d7180b01-808e-4cf2-adac-8d4aaf6cb09e/fig6+%281%29.png Galleries Bacterial swarm intelligence in a lung-like fractal space, launching collective solitary-waves which interact and redirect to find small confined regions so that they can occupy and condense into. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/488ef642-92a3-455c-8f81-85168e6d0ea3/Screenshot+2026-08-29+at+11.06.14%E2%80%AFAM.png Galleries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/ecb71b84-fac3-4f24-a197-6eb4d53ef183/JEEPS.jpg Galleries The artificial lifeforms on an interactive LED lightboard that represents a dynamical resource landscape. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/1788031023998-ZC8NOUBVEHJJ60CPV535/094a83b7-61f6-4027-822f-d1add0d0486f.jpg Galleries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/67ea688f-45db-499b-9fc8-dfcf4dac9e93/Q0.JPG Galleries An analog simulation which brings new insights into biological evolution and suggests a way to improve cancer chemotherapy: instead of periodic doses of a single drug, stochastic doses of multiple drugs could be more effective. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/1788111665957-IL7NJAV5OAMLYLQLHGLZ/74f472ee-9227-412e-b497-24cb3fb935c2.jpg Galleries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/ba6b251f-8e59-4e69-8729-e2293227c7f8/Cover129022.jpg Galleries The cover picture of Physical Review Letter Vol 129 Issue 22 is a figure from our work, which describe the measurement of the local entropy production in a rectifying device by a population of E. coli bacteria (real experiment, on the left) and by the corresponding active Brownian particles (simulation, on the right). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/1788031099043-T6GZ2Z00IBATCFII6ODY/cdd4b04b-c165-4c3f-8805-0747f874daf5.jpg Galleries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/0cc871c2-9ff9-4e0d-bc4c-90fd7b470ceb/Screen+Shot+2024-09-10+at+2.33.55+PM.png Galleries Progression of bacterial growth in a phage gradient, showing how a phage-insensitive bacterial subpopulation can emerge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/c715c545-7303-43a5-a36c-45e9516b0404/574f42b1-2678-4007-9bc1-780ea7564b8f.jpeg Galleries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/b01d13fc-1128-44d6-9d8e-259dadde4ed7/Screen+Shot+2025-02-02+at+7.21.44+AM.png Galleries The helical morphology of a swimming filamentous E.coli under genotoxic anti-biotic stress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/1634e490-1f2e-4159-99d9-ff01c93b42cd/Screenshot+2026-08-29+at+11.11.52%E2%80%AFAM.png Galleries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/5d6bc08b-830c-48d5-b12c-8adb5501496e/Screen+Shot+2024-12-29+at+9.24.17+AM.png Galleries We developed a fluorescent sensor to reveal the spatiotemporal dynamics of bacteria generated gradients during their collective migration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/1788030956782-B4TX3FUGNCQ955PIMTMI/a118de44-a27f-4318-84ee-7e294fe3e8c8.jpg Galleries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/e049e4aa-f996-49ed-9f8c-a5108eb36c8d/Screenshot+2026-03-14+at+8.20.07%E2%80%AFAM.png Galleries Our attempt to map the politico-physics of opinion polarization with a system of many intelligent reactive agents that have deep memory (which we call mnemomatter). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/52afc5c4-23c6-498d-9a12-4179e57b731b/Screen+Shot+2025-02-02+at+7.29.53+AM.png Galleries We created a hydrodynamical black hole to observe how communication between bacteria can help them collectively avoid the event horizon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/e6c6be1a-2e49-4c10-951c-570b79e79e4f/Screenshot+2026-09-26+at+11.30.02%E2%80%AFAM.png Galleries We develop quantum algorithms for Mayer homology that overcome key limitations of conventional quantum topological data analysis, while showing that Mayer Betti numbers can be exponentially large and that quantum computers may solve practically relevant instances beyond current classical methods. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/134aaa80-09cd-428b-83d8-b6fe5216b8b6/Screenshot+2026-09-26+at+11.42.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Galleries We introduce a "spatially liberated" framework for data-driven discovery of generally covariant PDEs governing coupled scalar fields, emerging as low-wavelength effective theories of locally interacting systems that preserve rotational and reflection symmetries. https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/fef24ce2-7837-44a4-a5e4-f11f2a978ba9/playlist.m3u8 https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/fef24ce2-7837-44a4-a5e4-f11f2a978ba9/thumbnail Galleries Galleries https://trungphan.squarespace.com/prelude daily 0.75 2026-08-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/23598e93-946e-4395-9cc9-067680aad930/Screenshot+2025-08-03+at+7.55.51%E2%80%AFAM.png Prelude We performed at the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Salt Lake city, Utah, U.S.A. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/2755f30b-cb94-4020-8451-e1aa6bdd6892/Screenshot+2025-08-03+at+8.01.38%E2%80%AFAM.png Prelude I cannot remember in what state we were in this picture, but we were glad to be able to meet and perform with many children choir groups in the U.S.; we did not just sing, we also show some traditional dance and play some traditional instruments (that is the reason for why our costumes look so heterogeneous). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/34f07966-6283-40d7-919b-7905a3519e6a/Screenshot+2025-08-03+at+8.01.57%E2%80%AFAM.png Prelude I cannot remember in what state we were in this picture, but we were glad to be able to meet and perform with many children choir groups in the U.S.; sometimes we brought out our traditional five-color flag (representing five elements: fire, water, wood, metal, earth). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/3a49451d-3110-4c12-be68-9071bf45a9f6/Screenshot+2025-08-03+at+8.06.10%E2%80%AFAM.png Prelude I was responsible for the drum, so for most of the time during our U.S. trip, I looked like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/89a247e3-5639-4c3d-a8b5-eb537dcb73d4/Screenshot+2025-08-03+at+8.02.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Prelude We had a few performances with our traditional instruments, and for some of those I was responsible to play the drum (which is probably the most boring but also the loudest thing on the stage); it was fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/73ff3993-a137-4ca3-8677-d68162846159/Screenshot+2025-08-03+at+8.26.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Prelude We were in the U.S. during July 4th, 2007 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/be9c3ea6-739e-4107-bf69-171290e7234e/Screenshot+2025-08-03+at+8.00.00%E2%80%AFAM.png Prelude When I was very young, I participated in children’s opera and ballet performances -- many directed by Prof. Dan Perkins (Plymouth State University/New Hampshire Master Chorale). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/f355feac-68a6-4087-b53a-175835f42e74/Screenshot+2025-08-03+at+9.00.12%E2%80%AFAM.png Prelude I was in the Vietnamese team of eight, participated in the Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO) hosted by Taiwan, 2010; this was my last high school year in Vietnam (11th grader -- junior year). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/54413730-50d2-4204-9fc7-373fda89930f/Screenshot+2025-08-03+at+8.59.50%E2%80%AFAM.png Prelude I was in the Vietnamese team of five, participated in the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) hosted by Croatia, 2010; this was my last high school year in Vietnam (11th grader -- junior year). https://trungphan.squarespace.com/lab daily 0.75 2026-08-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/bf1773f3-23a8-4590-a6d3-f9cc4419fe98/Screenshot+2025-10-05+at+8.23.40%E2%80%AFAM.png Opportunities With Kaitlyn Sumiko Yasumura, we investigated the formation of self-images through a cylindrical concave mirror. We performed an imaging experiment to test our theoretical predictions for self-image multiplicity across different spatial regions. Sumiko was honored as a top presenter at APS Global Submit 2026 for this work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/3de19f3e-00e4-4f4b-97c7-582d1554fe39/white.png Opportunities Designed by Louis Cassanova https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/ac052916-952d-437e-ab17-9012ba6bcad8/Screenshot+2025-10-23+at+8.34.39%E2%80%AFPM.png Opportunities With Caroline Nicole Cappetto, Penelope Messinger, Kaitlyn Sumiko Yasumura, Miro Rothman, we investigate the collective transport properties of a robot swarms, in which each robot uses quantized-sensors to perceive the environment. We discover many interesting emergent phenomena that can be explained by number theory, and also found many more unexplained self-organized behavior. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/94c662e2-e1ca-4976-a78f-8c834315b8e7/black.png Opportunities Designed by Louis Cassanova https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/757ec75e-0ae5-4785-834c-234d201ce86f/Screenshot+2025-10-05+at+8.24.06%E2%80%AFAM.png Opportunities With Olivia M. Markowich and Angeline Hu, we studied the size and shape of ground state quantum fuzzy sphere in (1+3) dimensions, whose higher-dimensional and supersymmetric generalizations are fundamental objects in M-theory. Here, we simulated a population of random walkers on a fitness landscape, using their stationary distribution to infer geometric properties of the fuzzy sphere. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/23d30d47-a551-4316-9244-9fd19117b436/fig01+%284%29.png Opportunities A gravitational interaction law has the spherical property when the field outside any uniform spherical shell is indistinguishable from that of a point mass at the center. With Ava K. Tse and Olivia M. Markowich, we proposed a method to identify all general potentials that possess this property on constant curvature spaces in any dimension and topology, using the Euler-Poisson-Darboux identity for spherical means. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/e9f1e5ba-8576-4505-b1c2-13d7695a26b4/Screenshot+2026-07-21+at+3.56.12%E2%80%AFPM.png Opportunities With Luciana Sarabia and Caroline Nicole Cappetto, we fit clinical data from patients with metastatic prostate cancer using an evolutionary game-theoretic model and the Lindstrom–Bates empirical Bayes method to identify the dynamics of cancer progression. We identified assumptions that appear to be shared across patients, suggesting treatment strategies that could potentially transform metastatic cancer from a terminal disease into a manageable chronic condition. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/955631cc-b8c9-4183-8c54-f580de4cfcaf/Screenshot+2026-10-08+at+8.17.21%E2%80%AFPM.png Opportunities With Penny Messinger and Stephany Rodriguez, we generalize Newton’s theorem to shape-preserving interactions, in which the field generated by a sphere is equivalent to that of a point source, up to a strength renormalization and a radial rescaling. Our generalization encompasses not only monopoles but also intrinsic multipoles. https://trungphan.squarespace.com/home daily 1.0 2026-09-01 https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/a91e4fe1-e883-4cb6-9e8b-43482a9fa081/playlist.m3u8 https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/a91e4fe1-e883-4cb6-9e8b-43482a9fa081/thumbnail Phan Lab Above a critical packing fraction, bare active spheres become trapped whereas spiky active spheres exhibit a new emergent locomotion mode, in which swarm interactions generate sufficient forces to liberate trapped spheres from immobilized states. https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/aa7bee2d-ae46-4510-a2be-70bdeb659a43/playlist.m3u8 https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/aa7bee2d-ae46-4510-a2be-70bdeb659a43/thumbnail Phan Lab Communicative active spheres can perform cyclic pursuit, a canonical benchmark for swarm control, demonstrating decentralized coordination and collective decision-making. https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/d82bc80a-c664-48e9-810a-7bbcd29fd5d8/playlist.m3u8 https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/d82bc80a-c664-48e9-810a-7bbcd29fd5d8/thumbnail Phan Lab Spiky active spheres can crawl underneath a highly-packed granular monolayer. https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/08952352-bb52-47f5-8cfc-328625c8df36/playlist.m3u8 https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61390fa275aafa5ee2157085/08952352-bb52-47f5-8cfc-328625c8df36/thumbnail Phan Lab Active boundary braiding can create bulk knots and links. The endpoint 2D boundary trajectories provide a complete topological record of the hidden 3D bulk string entangled configuration. https://trungphan.squarespace.com/new-page daily 0.75 2026-10-09