I work in computational statistical physics. I am interested in the behavior of simple model systems, such as the Ising spin glass, that display complex behavior resulting from competing, frustrated interactions. My work includes large-scale simulations of these models and the development of new Monte Carlo algorithms for carrying out these simulations. I am also collaborating with ecologists to understand the onset of long range synchrony using relationships between coupled map models of ecosystem dynamics and the Ising model in statistical physics. Finally, I am interested in applying ideas from computer science to classify the complexity of models in statistical physics on the basis of the computational complexity of sampling their states.
