Alexander Petroff, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Physics
Clark University
Worcester, MA 01610-1477
Office: 228 BioPhysics
Laboratory: BioPhysics 120 & Sackler 133
Office Phone: (508) 793-7366
Email: apetroff@clarku.edu
Alexander Petroff is an experimental physicist who uses hydrodynamics and reaction diffusion equations to understand the organization, dynamics, and evolution of microbial systems in table-top experiments. He has previously published several studies on the growth and geometry of river networks and stromatolites.
Education
B.A., Carleton College, 2006
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011
Research Interests
Complex microbial ecosystems, active matter, experimental biophysics, Earth Science.
Selected Publications
Petroff A, Tejera F, & Libchaber A., Subsurface Microbial Ecosystems: A Photon Flux and a Metabolic Cascade. Journal of Statistical Physics 167 763 (2017)
Petroff, A, Wu, XL, & Libchaber, A., Fast-moving bacteria self organize into active two-dimensional crystals of rotating cells. Physical Review Letters 114 158102 (2015)
Petroff, A., & Libchaber, A., Hydrodynamics and collective behavior of the tethered bacterium Thiovulum majus. PNAS E537 (2014)
Bosak, T, Knoll, AH, & Petroff, A., The Meaning of Stromatolites. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 41 21 (2013)
Devauchelle, O, Petroff, AP, Seybold H, & Rothman D.H., Ramification of Stream Networks. PNAS 109 20832 (2012)