Rigoberto Hernandez |
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Education B.S.E., Princeton University, 1989 Honors Goizueta Foundation Jr. Professor (2002-2006); Sigma Xi Southeast Regional Young Investigator - 2002; Alfred P. Sloan Fellow and Sigma Xi Southeast Regional Young Investigator - 2000; Research Corporation Cottrell Scholar and Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award - 1999; Blanchard Assistant Professor of Chemistry (1999-2001); NSF CAREER Award - 1997. He was elected as fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science, the AAAS, in 2004. Research Interests Nonstationary Stochastic Dynamics. A new approach to understanding nonstationary processes has recently been developed through the use of the so-called irreversible generalized Langevin equation (iGLE). The iGLE model can accommodate nonstationary changes in temperature and the friction strength of the environment. These changes may be coupled to macroscopic averages of the environment as induced by the collective motion of many equivalent tagged particles. As these environments may not be identical, the WiGLE model has also been developed, and it accounts for heterogeneous environments, each of which is coupled to a set of neighbors. Possible applications of these models include the chemical reaction dynamics of thermosetting polymers and living polymers, and the folding dynamics of proteins. Polymerization Dynamics. Existing theories of polymers are often aimed at the characterization of the final product and often omit treatment of the reaction dynamics in which the viscosity self-consistently affects the reaction process. For example, the polymerizations may end not because the reactants have been depleted, but because of diffusional quenching due to the dramatic change in viscosity with the polymerization. To better understand this question, two different approaches are being developed: a generalization of the bond-percolation model to provide a system in which the growth may be observed within a Monte Carlo simulation, and a non-stationary dissipative model to provide real time information. Ultimately, these models will be used within interactive programs for the design and characterization of polymeric materials with specified time-dependent material properties. Protein Folding. Minimalist lattice and off-lattice models provide rich insight characterizing the universal behavior of protein folding without suffering high computational costs. Monte Carlo simulations of designed minimalist proteins are being analyzed through novel projections to provide a better understanding of the connection between structure and protein dynamics. |