Afshin Montakhab
Education
- B.S. Physics, UCLA, (departmental honors, and magna cum laude)
- Ph.D. Physics, UCSB, (statistical physics)
Research Interests
I am interested in a wide range of physics problems. I have worked on statistical physics of non-equilibrium systems, complex systems, quantum systems, and relativistic systems. Over the past decade or so, I have mostly been interested in the human brain as an application of statistical mechanics. The "critical brain hypothesis" which proposes that the mammalian brain is in a fine balance, i.e. a critical point, between order and disorder has attracted much attention as it has implications for brain health, artificial intelligence, as well as physics of phase transitions. I have recently acquired an electroencephalograph (EEG) device which allows us to record brain activity and analyze data using various complexity measures.
Please, contact me if you are interested in working in this exciting field.
About
I was born in Iran, and came to the US after a revolution and a subsequent war broke out in my country. I have always found physics a fascinating topic. After finishing my Ph.D. and working for a couple of years in the USA, I went back to my motherland to contribute to educational reforms under way in Iran. In 2023 I came back to California and have been working at Cal Poly ever since. In my spare time, I like to read, swim, and play poker.