ADIL MUGHAL
I am a theoretical physicist working on the effects of topology and geometry in condensed matter physics. In particular, I am interested in packing problems, foams and the role played by conformal geometries in these systems.
Currently I hold a lectureship in mathematical modelling at the Institute of Mathematics and Physics (IMAPS) at Aberystwyth University.
Recent Publications
Screw symmetry in columnar crystals. A. Mughal. Philosophical Magazine (2013).
We have shown that the optimal packing of hard spheres in an infinitely long cylinder yields structures characterised by a screw symmetry. Each packing can be assembled by stacking a basic unit cell ad infinitum along the length of the cylinder with each subsequent unit cell rotated by the same twist angle with respect to the previous one. In this paper we quantitatively describe the nature of this screw operation for all the such packings in the range 1 ≤ D/d ≤ 2.715 .
Screw symmetry in columnar crystals.
Compaction of cereal grain. J. Wychowaniec, I. M. Griffiths, A. Gay, A Mughal, Philosophical Magazine (2013).
We report on simple shaking experiments to measure the compaction of a column of Firth oat grain. Such grains are elongated anisotropic particles with a bimodal polydispersity. In these experiments, the particle configurations start from an initially disordered, low-packing- fraction state and under vertical shaking evolve to a dense state with evidence of nematic-like structure at the surface of the confining tube. This is accompanied by an increase in the packing fraction of the grain.
Compaction of cereal grain.