I am a PhD student working with Dr. Gareth Alexander in the Theoretical Physics group.

My research interests are in soft matter in general and active liquid crystals in particular, with a focus on the role that geometry and topology may play in such systems. To date this has included the following principal topics:

• Understanding the nature of the Plateau-Rayleigh instability in active fluids
• Considering the effect of elastic anisotropy on the motility of topological defects in active nematics
• Developing a geometric theory for thin active films on generic curved substrates

Prior to coming to Warwick I worked with Prof. Mark Dennis at the University of Bristol on random eigenfunctions in the presence of an Aharonov-Bohm flux point.

Publications

A random wave model for the Aharonov-Bohm effect - Alexander J H Houston, Martin Gradhand and Mark R Dennis (JPhysA 2017)

A random wave model for the Aharonov-Bohm effect - MSc thesis, University of Bristol 2017

Write to:

Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL

Contact details:

Email: A dot Houston at warwick dot ac dot uk