My research group has the ultimate scientific goal of deeply understanding the statistical physics of disordered systems. From my early projects on spin glasses to my recent work on the jamming transition, I have routinely employed methods from statistical mechanics and field theory as well as state-of-the-art computational tools and numerical simulations to explain the role played by disorder into diverse physical phenomena. My current interests fall primarily into the topic of Soft Matter, which has sparkled my interest since graduate school. I have made early contributions on the development of genuine statistical mechanical models of liquid crystals; simulations of the smectic phase and a unifying theory for its spacetime microstructure; the first bona-fide effective-medium theory of jamming. I also have contributions in miscellaneous fields, from superconductivity and spin glasses to plasticity and more. As a FAPESP Young Investigator, I am currently researching geometric and topological aspects of considerable relevance to two general topics in the area of soft matter: Smectic Liquid Crystals and Disordered Elastic Systems.

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