Albert-Laszlo Barabasi – Northeaster n University
Wednesday, September 10 th, 2025
Zoom opens : 10:30AM DST
Seminar be gins: 10:45AM DST
From Physical Network t o Network Materials
Materials are inherently network-based s ystems, whose physical properties are defined by the structure of the chemi cal bonds that connect their atoms or molecules. Network science has reveal ed a rich diversity of network architectures across biological, social, and technological systems. However, these advances have had limited impact on materials science, mainly because atomic bonds impose strict constraints on network structures, limiting materials to specific, relatively simple netw ork configurations. Today, additive manufacturing allows us to print struct ures of arbitrary geometry, raising the question: if we can create material s with arbitrary network structures, what network configurations have the m ost desirable material properties?
Our research is driven by the insi
ght that the physical properties of most materials, including advanced meta
materials, are constrained by their reliance on single-scale characteristic
s across essential attributes like constant or unimodal coordination number
(degree), bond length, and bond strength. Our work is also inspired by rec
ent advances in our understanding of physical networks—from the brain conne
ctome to vascular networks—that show a high geometric and structural divers
ity [1-4]. Hence, here we focus on the mechanical and transport properties
of materials that break from the single-scale paradigm across one or more f
oundational network properties. We explore the scaling features of these ma
terials, and, working with experimental collaborators, we study their mecha
nical and thermal properties.
[1] Dehmamy, Milanlouei, & Barabás
i, A structural transition in physical networks. Nature 563, 676–
680 (2018).
[2] Liu, Dehmamy, & Barabási. Isotopy and energy of phys
ical networks. Nat. Phys. 17, 216–222 (2021).
[3] Posfai et al
, Impact of physicality on network structure. Nat. Phys.
20,142–149 (2024).
[4] Glover, Barabási, Measuring Entang
lement in Physical Networks. Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 077401 (2024)<
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CONTACT:Albert-Laszlo Barabasi
DTSTAMP:20260828T030542
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T120000
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