Prof. Dr. Myfanwy Evans
Myfanwy Evans is a Mathematician and Physicist who works on the role of geometry and topology in soft materials. She is the Professor for Applied Geometry and Topology in the Institute for Mathematics at the University of Potsdam.
She studied Mathematics and completed her PhD at the Australian National University. Her PhD thesis, titled »Three-dimensional entanglement: knots, knits and nets«, explored the use of hyperbolic geometry in constructing and characterising entangled networks and filamentous structures. From 2015 until 2020, she lead an Emmy Noether Research Group at TU Berlin on the topic »Geometry and Topology of Entangled Soft Matter«.
She is interested in building interdisciplinary connections to Mathematics within »Matters of Activity«, in particular around the theme of activity through three-dimensional geometric motifs.
Universität Potsdam
Institut für Mathematik
Campus Golm, Haus 9
Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25
14476 Potsdam
Geometry & topology in soft matter physics, 2D hyperbolic geometry, 3D networks, mesoscale geometry, Biological materials
Evans, M. E., Roth, R. 2014. »Shaping the Skin: The Interplay of Mesoscale Geometry and Corneocyte Swelling.« Physical Review Letters, 112 (3): 038102.
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.038102
Highlighted by Physics 7, 8: https://physics.aps.org/articles/v7/8.
Articles in Edited Volumes
Hengge, R., Evans, M. E. 2024. »Buckling, Wrinkling, and Folding: Microstructure, Active Matter Behavior, and Geometric Modeling of Bacterial Biofilms.« In Toward a New Culture of the Material, edited by Bauer, F., Kim, Y., Marienberg, S., Schäffner, W. Berlin: De Gruyter, 109-120.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110714883-009
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Evans, M. 2022. »Interview with Myfanwy Evans: Entanglements on and Models of Periodic Minimal Surfaces.« In Model and Mathematics: From the 19th to the 21st Century, edited by Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. Cham: Birkhäuser, 255-266.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97833-4_7
Articles
Spirandelli, I., Coles, R., Friesecke, G., Evans, M. E. 2024. »Exotic self-assembly of hard spheres in a morphometric solvent.« Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121 (15)
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2314959121
Himmelmann, M., Evans, M. E. 2023. »Robust geometric modeling of 3-periodic tensegrity frameworks using Riemannian optimization.« arXiv. 2303.13140.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.13140
Schamberger, B., Ziege, R., Anselme, K., Ben Amar, M., Bykowski, M., Castro, A. P. G., Cipitria, A., Coles, R. A., Dimova, R., Eder, M., Ehrig, S., Escudero, L. M., Evans, M. E., Fernandes, P. R., Fratzl, P., Geris, L., Gierlinger, N., Hannezo, E., Iglič, A., Kirkensgaard, J. J. K., Kollmannsberger, P., Kowalewska, Ł., Kurniawan, N. A., Papantoniou, I., Pieuchot, L., Pires, T. H. V., Renner, L. D., Sageman‐Furnas, A. O., Schröder‐Turk, G. E., Sengupta, A., Sharma, V. R., Tagua, A., Tomba, C., Trepat, X., Waters, S. L., Yeo, E. F., Roschger, A., Bidan, C. M., Dunlop, J. W. C. 2023. »Curvature in Biological Systems: Its Quantification, Emergence, and Implications across the Scales.« Advanced Materials, 35: 2206110.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202206110
Evans, M. E., Hyde, S. T. 2022. »Symmetric Tangling of Honeycomb Networks.« Symmetry, 14 (9): 1805.
https://doi.org/doi.org/10.3390/sym14091805
Hyde, S. T., Evans, M. E. 2022. »Symmetric tangled Platonic polyhedra.« Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (1): e2110345118.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2110345118
Kolbe, B., Evans, M. E. 2022. »Enumerating Isotopy Classes of Tilings Guided by the Symmetry of Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces.« SIAM Journal on Applied Algebra and Geometry, 6 (1): 1-40.
https://doi.org/10.1137/20M1358943
Hain, T. M., Bykowski, M., Saba, M., Evans, M. E., Schröder-Turk, G. E., Kowalewska, Ł. 2021. »SPIRE—a software tool for bicontinuous phase recognition: application for plastid cubic membranes.« Plant Physiology, 188 (1): 81-96.
https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiab476
Kolbe, B., Evans, M. 2021. »Isotopic tiling theory for hyperbolic surfaces.« Geometriae Dedicata.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10711-020-00554-2
Oster, M., Dias, M. A., de Wolff, T., Evans, M. E. 2021. »Reentrant tensegrity: A three-periodic, chiral, tensegrity structure that is auxetic.« Science Advances, 7 (50)
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj6737
Evans, M. E., Schröder-Turk, G. E., Kraynik, A. M. 2017. »A geometric exploration of stress in deformed liquid foams.« Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 29 (12): 124004.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/aa57c7
Hyde, S., Schröder-Turk, G., Evans, M., Wilts, B. 2017. »Emergence and function of complex form in Self-Assembly and biological cells.« Interface Focus, 7 (4)
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2017.0035
Evans, M. E., Hyde, S. T. 2015. »Periodic entanglement III: tangled degree-3 finite and layer net intergrowths from rare forests.« Acta Crystallographica Section A Foundations and Advances, 71 (6): 599-611.
https://doi.org/10.1107/S2053273315014710
Evans, M. E., Robins, V., Hyde, S. T. 2015. »Ideal geometry of periodic entanglements.« Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 471 (2181): 20150254.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2015.0254
Evans, M. E., Roth, R. 2014. »Shaping the Skin: The Interplay of Mesoscale Geometry and Corneocyte Swelling.« Physical Review Letters, 112 (3): 038102.
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.038102
Highlighted by Physics 7, 8: https://physics.aps.org/articles/v7/8.
Evans, M. E., Roth, R. 2014. »Solvation of a sponge-like geometry.« Pure and Applied Chemistry, 86 (2): 173-179.
https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2014-5027
Kirkensgaard, J. J. K., Evans, M. E., de Campo, L., Hyde, S. T. 2014. »Hierarchical self-assembly of a striped gyroid formed by threaded chiral mesoscale networks.« Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111 (4): 1271-1276.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1316348111
Evans, M. E., Kraynik, A. M., Reinelt, D. A., Mecke, K., Schröder-Turk, G. E. 2013. »Networklike Propagation of Cell-Level Stress in Sheared Random Foams.« Physical Review Letters, 111 (13): 138301.
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.138301
Evans, M. E., Robins, V., Hyde, S. T. 2013. »Periodic entanglement I: networks from hyperbolic reticulations.« Acta Crystallographica Section A Foundations of Crystallography, 69 (3): 241-261.
https://doi.org/10.1107/S0108767313001670
Evans, M. E., Robins, V., Hyde, S. T. 2013. »Periodic entanglement II: weavings from hyperbolic line patterns.« Acta Crystallographica Section A Foundations of Crystallography, 69 (3): 262-275.
https://doi.org/10.1107/S0108767313001682
Castle, T., Evans, M., Hyde, S., Ramsden, S., Robins, V. 2012. »Trading spaces: Building three-dimensional nets from two-dimensional tilings.« Interface Focus, 2 (5): 555-566.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2011.0115
Evans, M. E., Zirkelbach, J., Schröder-Turk, G. E., Kraynik, A. M., Mecke, K. 2012. »Deformation of Platonic foam cells: Effect on growth rate.« Physical Review E, 85 (6)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.85.061401
Schröder-Turk, G. E., de Campo, L., Evans, M. E., Saba, M., Kapfer, S. C., Varslot, T., Grosse-Brauckmann, K., Ramsden, S., Hyde, S. T. 2012. »Polycontinuous geometries for inverse lipid phases with more than two aqueous network domains.« Faraday Discuss., 161: 215-247.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c2fd20112g
Castle, T., Evans, M. E., Hyde, S. T. 2011. »Entanglement of Embedded Graphs.« Progress of Theoretical Physics Supplement, 191 (191): 235-244.
https://doi.org/10.1143/PTPS.191.235
Evans, M. E., Hyde, S. T. 2011. »From three-dimensional weavings to swollen corneocytes.« Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 8 (62): 1274-1280.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2010.0722
Castle, T., Evans, M. E., Hyde, S. T. 2009. »All toroidal embeddings of polyhedral graphs in 3-space are chiral.« New Journal of Chemistry, 33 (10): 2107.
https://doi.org/10.1039/b907338h
Castle, T., Evans, M. E., Hyde, S. T. 2008. »Ravels: knot-free but not free. Novel entanglements of graphs in 3-space.« New Journal of Chemistry, 32 (9): 1484.
https://doi.org/10.1039/b719665b
Talks & Presentations
Jaffar-Bandjee, M, Raichenko, V., Evans, M., Eder, M. Silk cocoons – multi scale characterization of their structure. Talk at the SEB Centenary Conference 2023, Open biomechanics. Edinburgh. Hybrid. 4 July 2023.
https://www.sebiology.org/events/seb-centenary-conference-2023.html
Evans, M., Hengge, R. Buckling, Wrinkling and Folding: Microstructure, Active Matter Behaviour and Geometric Modelling of Bacterial Biofilms. Talk at the 1st Annual Conference »The Analog in the Digital Age«. Virtual. 11 November 2020.
https://www.virtualspace.matters-of-activity.de/annualconference/?id=11
Evans, M. E. Building Tangled Structures through Experimental Geometry and Topology. Talk at the MoA Talks. Interdiciplinary Lecture Series, Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Virtual. 20 October 2020.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/2618/myfanwy-evans-building-tangled-structures-through-experimental-geometry-and-topology
Prizes & Competition Awards
Evans, M. E. 2017. Nachwuchspreis (Berliner Wissenschaftspreis) of the Governing Mayor of Berlin. The Governing Mayor of Berlin.
https://www.berlin.de/sen/wissenschaft/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2017/pressemitteilung.646360.php
Evans, M. E. 2011. Jagadishwar Mahanty Prize. ANU.
Evans, M. E. 2008. Canon Information Systems Research Australia (CiSRA) Physics Prize.
External Grants, Fellowships, Scholarships & Residencies
Evans, M. E., Kowalewska, L. 2023. The formation of the Prolamellar body: where biology meets geometry. DFG, Project funding.
https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/524578210?language=en
Evans, M. E. 2012. Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Evans, M.E. 2009. Robert and Helen Crompton Endowment Scholarship.
Memberships
Evans, M. E. Since 2018. Membership Deutsche Mathematische Vereinigung.
Evans, M. E. Since 2011. Membership Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft e.V. (DPG).