Bulbul Chakraborty

Bulbul Chakraborty is the Enid and Nathan Ancell Professor of Physics, emerita at Brandeis University. Chakraborty is a theoretical condensed matter physicist whose pioneering research on principles that govern fluctuations and response in non-thermal systems has opened up new insights into the plethora of systems that explore configuration space without any thermal motion. These are complex systems that occur ubiquitously in nature and industry, but whose fluctuations fall outside the paradigm of existing statistical mechanics frameworks. She explores how nonthermal systems, particularly granular matter and dense suspensions such as Oobleck, respond to stress.

In addition to her achievements in science, Chakraborty received an Obie Award for her performance in “Rheology,” a critically acclaimed off-broadway play she collaborated on with her son, Shayok Misha Chowdhury, an award-winning playwright and director. The drama’s title refers to the study of the flow behavior of certain substances, such as sand.

She is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association For The Advancement of Science.

Chakraborty received a B.S. from the Indian Institute of Technology, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Stony Brook University.