Staff profile

Research Interests

Our group is interested in theoretical and computational soft matter and biophysics. Our work is interdisciplinary, lying at the interface between Physics, Chemistry, Engineering and Biology. We are also part of the Durham Centre for Soft Matter, the Biophysical Sciences Institute, and the SOFI CDT. See here for more detailed descriptions.

We always welcome talented undergraduates, PhD students, Postdocs and visitors who want to work with us. Please contact Halim Kusumaatmaja by email if you are thinking of joining us. 

• Centre for Materials Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Theory and simulation of soft condensed matter and biological physics

Authored book

• Krüger, Timm, Kusumaatmaja, Halim, Kuzmin, Alexandr, Shardt, Orest, Silva, Goncalo & Viggen, Erlend Magnus (2017). The Lattice Boltzmann Method: Principles and Practice. Springer.

Chapter in book

• Kusumaatmaja, H. & Yeomans, J. M. (2010). Lattice Boltzmann Simulations of Wetting and Drop Dynamics. In SIMULATING COMPLEX SYSTEMS BY CELLULAR AUTOMATA. Hoekstra, A. G., Kroc, J. & Sloot, P. M. A. HEIDELBERGER PLATZ 3, D-14197 BERLIN, GERMANY: SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN. 241-274.

Journal Article

• Gardner, James E., Wadsworth, Fabian B., Carley, Tamara L., Llewellin, Edward W., Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Sahagian, Dork (2023). Bubble Formation in Magma. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 51(1): 131-154.
• Panter, Jack R., Konicek, Andrew R., King, Mark A., Jusufi, Arben, Yeganeh, Mohsen S. & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2023). Rough capillary rise. Communications Physics 6: 44.
• Sammartino, Camilla, Rennick, Michael, Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Pinchasik, Bat-El (2022). Three-dimensional printed liquid diodes with tunable velocity: Design guidelines and applications for liquid collection and transport. Physics of Fluids 34(11): 112113.
• Christianto, Raymond, Rahmawan, Yudi, Semprebon, Ciro & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2022). Modeling the dynamics of partially wetting droplets on fibers. Physical Review Fluids 7(10): 103606.
• Avis, Samuel J., Panter, Jack R. & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2022). A robust and memory-efficient transition state search method for complex energy landscapes. The Journal of Chemical Physics 157(12): 124107.
• Panter, Jack, Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Prior, Chris (2022). A minimal model of elastic instabilities in biological filament bundles. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 19(194): 20220287.
• Shek, Alvin C. M. & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2022). Spontaneous phase separation of ternary fluid mixtures. Soft Matter 18(31): 5807-5814.
• Calhoun, Suzanne G. K., Brower, Kara K., Suja, Vineeth Chandran, Kim, Gaeun, Wang, Ningning, McCully, Alexandra L., Kusumaatmaja, Halim, Fuller, Gerald G. & Fordyce, Polly M. (2022). Systematic characterization of effect of flow rates and buffer compositions on double emulsion droplet volumes and stability. Lab on a Chip 22(12).
• Goodband, Sarah J., Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Voïtchovsky, Kislon (2022). Development of a setup to characterize capillary liquid bridges between liquid infused surfaces. AIP Advances 12(1): 015120.
• Li, Yi, Avis, Samuel J., Zhang, Teng, Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Wang, Xueju (2021). Tailoring the multistability of origami-inspired, buckled magnetic structures via compression and creasing. Materials Horizons 8(12): 3324-3333.
• Kusumaatmaja, Halim, May, Alexander I., Feeney, Mistianne, McKenna, Joseph F., Mizushima, Noboru, Frigerio, Lorenzo & Knorr, Roland L. (2021). Wetting of phase-separated droplets on plant vacuole membranes leads to a competition between tonoplast budding and nanotube formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(36): e2024109118.
• Kusumaatmaja, Halim, May, Alexander I. & Knorr, Roland L. (2021). Intracellular wetting mediates contacts between liquid compartments and membrane-bound organelles. Journal of Cell Biology 220(10): e202103175.
• Semprebon, Ciro, Sadullah, Muhammad Subkhi, McHale, Glen & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2021). Apparent contact angle of drops on liquid infused surfaces: geometric interpretation. Soft Matter 17(42): 9553-9559.
• Li, Yi, Avis, Samuel J., Chen, Junbo, Wu, Guangfu, Zhang, Teng, Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Wang, Xueju (2021). Reconfiguration of multistable 3D ferromagnetic mesostructures guided by energy landscape surveys. Extreme Mechanics Letters 48: 101428.
• Pepona, M., Shek, A. C. M., Semprebon, C., Krüger, T. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2021). Modeling ternary fluids in contact with elastic membranes. Physical Review E 103(2): 022112.
• Christy, Andrew T. R., Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Miller, Mark A. (2021). Control of Superselectivity by Crowding in Three-Dimensional Hosts. Physical Review Letters 126(2): 028002.
• Shek, Alvin C. M., Semprebon, Ciro, Panter, Jack R. & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2021). Capillary Bridges on Liquid-Infused Surfaces. Langmuir 37(2): 908-917.
• Natarajan, Bharath, Jaishankar, Aditya, King, Mark, Oktasendra, Fandi, Avis, Samuel J., Konicek, Andrew R., Wadsworth, Garrett, Jusufi, Arben, Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Yeganeh, Mohsen S. (2021). Predicting Hemiwicking Dynamics on Textured Substrates. Langmuir 37(1): 188-195.
• Krause, Mathias J., Kummerländer, Adrian, Avis, Samuel J., Kusumaatmaja, Halim, Dapelo, Davide, Klemens, Fabian, Gaedtke, Maximilian, Hafen, Nicolas, Mink, Albert, Trunk, Robin, Marquardt, Jan E., Maier, Marie-Luise, Haussmann, Marc & Simonis, Stephan (2021). OpenLB—Open source lattice Boltzmann code. Computers & Mathematics with Applications 81: 258-288.
• Sadullah, Muhammad Subkhi, Launay, Gaby Parle, Jayne Ledesma-Aguilar, Rodrigo Gizaw, Yonas McHale, Glen Wells, Gary & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2020). Bidirectional Motion of Droplets on Gradient Liquid Infused Surfaces. Communications Physics 3: 166.
• Launay, Gaby, Sadullah, Muhammad Subkhi, McHale, Glen, Ledesma-Aguilar, Rodrigo, Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Wells, Gary G. (2020). Self-propelled droplet transport on shaped-liquid surfaces. Scientific Reports 10: 14987.
• Busuioc, Sergiu, Kusumaatmaja, H. & Ambruş, Victor E. (2020). Axisymmetric flows on the torus geometry. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 901: A9.
• Law, Jack O., Dean, Jacob M., Miller, Mark A. & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2020). Phase transitions on non-uniformly curved surfaces: Coupling between phase and location. Soft Matter 16(34): 8069-8077.
• Sadullah, Muhammad Subkhi, Panter, Jack R. & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2020). Factors controlling the pinning force of liquid droplets on liquid infused surfaces. Soft Matter 16(35): 8114-8121.
• Vietri, Marina, Schultz, Sebastian W., Bellanger, Aurélie, Jones, Carl M., Petersen, Louise I., Raiborg, Camilla, Skarpen, Ellen, Pedurupillay, Christeen Ramane J., Kjos, Ingrid, Kip, Eline, Timmer, Romy, Jain, Ashish, Collas, Philippe, Knorr, Roland L., Grellscheid, Sushma N., Kusumaatmaja, Halim, Brech, Andreas, Micci, Francesca, Stenmark, Harald & Campsteijn, Coen (2020). Unrestrained ESCRT-III drives micronuclear catastrophe and chromosome fragmentation. Nature Cell Biology 22(7): 856-867.
• Panter, Jack R., Gizaw, Yonas & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2020). Critical pressure asymmetry in the enclosed fluid diode. Langmuir 36(26): 7463-7473.
• Wang, Ningning, Semprebon, Ciro, Liu, Haihu, Zhang, Chuhua & Kusumaatmaja, Halim (2020). Modelling double emulsion formation in planar flow-focusing microchannels. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 895: A22.
• Goodband, S. J., Armstrong, S., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Voïtchovsky, K. (2020). The Effect of Ageing on the Structure and Properties of Model Liquid Infused Surfaces. Langmuir 36(13): 3461-3470.
• Foster, W., Miyazawa, K., Fukuma, T., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Voïtchovsky, K. (2020). Self-assembly of small molecules at hydrophobic interfaces using group effect. Nanoscale 12(9): 5452-5463.
• Ambrus, V. E., Busuioc, S., Wagner, A. J., Paillusson, F. & Kusumaatmaja, H (2019). Multicomponent flow on curved surfaces: A vielbein lattice Boltzmann approach. Physical Review E 100: 063306.
• Panter, J. R., Chen, J., Zhang, T. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2019). Harnessing energy landscape exploration to control the buckling of cylindrical shells. Communications Physics 2: 151.
• Pearce, P., Woodhouse, F. G., Forrow, A., Kelly, A., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Dunkel, J. (2019). Learning dynamical information from static protein and sequencing data. Nature Communications 10: 5368.
• Sutherland, B. J., Olesen, S. W., Kusumaatmaja, H., Morgan, J. W. R. & Wales, D. J. (2019). Morphological analysis of chiral rod clusters from a coarse-grained single-site chiral potential. Soft Matter 15(40): 8147-8155.
• Bala, Neeru Pepona, Marianna Karlin, Ilya Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Semprebon, Ciro (2019). Wetting boundaries for a ternary high-density-ratio lattice Boltzmann method. Physical Review E 100(1): 013308.
• Panter, J. R., Gizaw, Y & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2019). Multifaceted design optimization for superomniphobic surfaces. Science Advances 5(6): eaav7328.
• Barlow, Nathan E., Kusumaatmaja, Halim, Salehi-Reyhani, Ali, Brooks, Nick, Barter, Laura M. C., Flemming, Anthony J. & Ces, Oscar (2018). Measuring bilayer surface energy and curvature in asymmetric droplet interface bilayers. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 15(148): 20180610.
• Sadullah, M. S., Semprebon, C. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2018). Drop Dynamics on Liquid Infused Surfaces: The Role of the Lubricant Ridge. Langmuir 34(27): 8112-8118.
• Law, Jack O., Wong, Alex G., Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Miller, Mark A. (2018). Nucleation on a sphere: the roles of curvature, confinement and ensemble. Molecular Physics 116(21-22): 3008-3019.
• Wöhrwag, M., Semprebon, C., Mazloomi Moqaddam, A., Karlin, I. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2018). Ternary free-energy entropic lattice Boltzmann model with a high density ratio. Physical Review Letters 120(23): 234501.
• Guiselin, B., Law, J. O., Chakrabarti, B. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2018). Dynamic morphologies and stability of droplet interface bilayers. Physical Review Letters 120(23): 238001.
• Benet, J., Paillusson, F. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2017). On The Critical Casimir Interaction Between Anisotropic Inclusions On A Membrane. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 19(35): 24188-24196
• Hemingway, Ewan J., Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Fielding, Suzanne M. (2017). Edge Fracture in Complex Fluids. Physical Review Letters 119(2): 028006.
• Panter, J.R. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2017). The impact of surface geometry, cavitation, and condensation on wetting transitions: posts and reentrant structures. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 29(8): 084001.
• Semprebon, C., McHale, G. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2017). Apparent Contact Angle and Contact Angle Hysteresis on Liquid Infused Surfaces. Soft Matter 13(1): 101-110.
• Paillusson, F., Pennington, M. R. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2016). Phase Separation on Bicontinuous Cubic Membranes: Symmetry Breaking, Reentrant, and Domain Faceting. Physical Review Letters 117(5): 058101.
• Mehta, D., Chen, J., Chen, D. Z., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Wales, D. J. (2016). Network of Minima of the Thomson Problem and Smale's 7th Problem. Physical Review Letters 117(2): 028301.
• Paquay, S., Kusumaatmaja, H., Wales, D. J., Zandi, R. & van der Schoot, P. (2016). Energetically favoured defects in dense packings of particles on spherical surfaces. Soft Matter 12(26): 5708-5717.
• Semprebon, C., Krüger, T. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2016). Ternary Free Energy Lattice Boltzmann Model with Tunable Surface Tensions and Contact Angles. Physical Review E 93(3): 033305.
• Kusumaatmaja, H, Hemingway, E. J. & Fielding, S. M. (2016). Moving contact line dynamics: from diffuse to sharp interfaces. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 788: 209-227.
• Kusumaatmaja, H. (2015). Surveying the free energy landscapes of continuum models: Application to soft matter systems. The Journal of Chemical Physics 142(12): 124112.
• Kusumaatmaja, H. & Majumdar, A. (2015). Free energy pathways of a Multistable Liquid Crystal Device. Soft Matter 11(24): 4809-4817.
• Mochizuki, K., Whittleston, C.S., Somani, S., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Wales, D.J. (2014). A conformational factorisation approach for estimating the binding free energies of macromolecules. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 16(7): 2842-2853.
• Chakrabarti, D., Kusumaatmaja, H., Rühle, V. & Wales, D.J. (2014). Exploring energy landscapes: from molecular to mesoscopic systems. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 16(11): 5014- 5025.
• Fejer, S.N., Chakrabarti, D., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Wales, D.J. (2014). Design principles for Bernal spirals and helices with tunable pitch. Nanoscale 6(16): 9448-9456.
• Rühle, V., Kusumaatmaja, H., Chakrabarti, D. & Wales, D.J. (2013). Exploring energy landscapes: metrics, pathways, and normal mode analysis for rigid-body molecules. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 9(9): 4026-4034.
• Vrancken, R. J., Blow, M. L., Kusumaatmaja, H., Hermans, K., Prenen, A. M., Bastiaansen, C. W. M., Broer, D. J. & Yeomans, J. M. (2013). Anisotropic wetting and de-wetting of drops on substrates patterned with polygonal posts. Soft Matter 9(3): 674-683.
• Kusumaatmaja, H. & Wales, D.J. (2013). Defect motifs for constant mean curvature surfaces. Physical Review Letters 110(16): 165502.
• Li, Y., Kusumaatmaja, H., Lipowsky, R. & Dimova, R. (2012). Wetting-Induced Budding of Vesicles in Contact with Several Aqueous Phases. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 116(6): 1819-1823.
• Kusumaatmaja, H., Lipowsky, R., Jin, C. Mutihac, R.-C. & Riegler, H. (2012). Nonisomorphic nucleation pathways arising from morphological transitions of liquid channels. Physical Review Letters 108(12): 126102.
• Kusumaatmaja, H., Whittleston, C. S. & Wales, D. J. (2012). A Local Rigid Body Framework for Global Optimization of Biomolecules. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 8(12): 5159-5165.
• Kusumaatmaja, H. & Lipowsky, R. (2011). Droplet-induced budding transitions of membranes. Soft Matter 7(15): 6914-6919.
• Vrancken, R. J., Kusumaatmaja, H., Hermans, K., Prenen, A. M., Pierre-Louis, O., Bastiaansen, C. W. M. & Broer, D. J. (2010). Fully Reversible Transition from Wenzel to Cassie-Baxter States on Corrugated Superhydrophobic Surfaces. Langmuir 26(5): 3335-3341.
• Kusumaatmaja, H. & Lipowsky, R. (2010). Equilibrium Morphologies and Effective Spring Constants of Capillary Bridges. Langmuir 26(24): 18734-18741.
• Mognetti, B. M., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Yeomans, J. M. (2010). Drop dynamics on hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces. Faraday Discussions 146: 153-165.
• Kusumaatmaja, H., Li, Y., Dimova, R. & Lipowsky, R. (2009). Intrinsic contact angle of aqueous phases at membranes and vesicles. Physical Review Letters 103(23): 238103.
• Blow, M. L., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Yeomans, J. M. (2009). Imbibition through an array of triangular posts. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 21(46): 464125.
• Montes Ruiz-Cabello, F. J., Kusumaatmaja, H., Rodriguez-Valverde, M. A., Yeomans, J. M. & Cabrerizo-Vilchez, M. A. (2009). Modeling the Corrugation of the Three-Phase Contact Line Perpendicular to a Chemically Striped Substrate. Langmuir 25(14): 8357-8361.
• Kusumaatmaja, H. & Yeomans, J. M. (2009). Anisotropic hysteresis on ratcheted superhydrophobic surfaces. Soft Matter 5(14): 2704-2707.
• Pooley, C. M., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Yeomans, J. M. (2009). Modelling capillary filling dynamics using lattice Boltzmann simulations. European Physical Journal Special Topics 171: 63-71.
• Kusumaatmaja, H. Blow, M.L., Dupuis, A. & Yeomans, J.M. (2008). The collapse transition on superhydrophobic surfaces. EPL (Europhysics Letters) 81(3): 36003.
• Kusumaatmaja, H., Vrancken, R. J., Bastiaansen, C. W. M. & Yeomans, J. M. (2008). Anisotropic drop morphologies on corrugated surfaces. Langmuir 24(14): 7299-7308.
• Pooley, C. M., Kusumaatmaja, H. & Yeomans, J. M. (2008). Contact line dynamics in binary lattice Boltzmann simulations. Physical Review E 78(5, 2): 056709.
• Kusumaatmaja, H., Pooley, C. M., Girardo, S., Pisignano, D. & Yeomans, J. M. (2008). Capillary filling in patterned channels. Physical Review E 77(6, 2): 067301.
• Kusumaatmaja, H. & Yeomans, J. M. (2007). Modeling contact angle hysteresis on chemically patterned and superhydrophobic surfaces. Langmuir 23(11): 6019-6032.
• Yeomans, J. M. & Kusumaatmaja, H. (2007). Modelling drop dynamics on patterned surfaces. Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences: Technical Sciences 55(2): 203-210.
• Kusumaatmaja, H. & Yeomans, J. M. (2007). Controlling drop size and polydispersity using chemically patterned surfaces. Langmuir 23(2): 956-959.
• Kusumaatmaja, H, Leopoldes, J, Dupuis, A & Yeomans, JM (2006). Drop dynamics on chemically patterned surfaces. Europhysics Letters 73(5): 740-746.
• Kusumaatmaja, H., Dupuis, A. & Yeomans, J. M. (2006). Lattice Boltzmann simulations of drop dynamics. Mathematics and Computers in Simulation 72(2-6): 160-164.