Faculty Profile

Photograph of Leif Ristroph

Leif Ristroph

Associate Professor of Mathematics
ristroph@cims.nyu.edu
212-998-3317
Warren Weaver Hall, Office 1127

Education

Ph.D., Physics, Cornell University, USA, 2011.
M.S., Physics, Cornell University, USA, 2007.
B.S., Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, USA, 2005.

Research Interests

I’m an experimental physicist and applied mathematician who specializes in fluid dynamics, with a particular emphasis on fluid-structure interactions as applied to biological and geophysical flows. My biophysical work includes studies of the aerodynamics and stabilization of insect flight as well as the hydrodynamics of schooling and flow-sensing in swimming fish. Relevant to geophysical flows, I’m interested in problems ranging from instabilities of interfacial flows to the evolution of shape during fluid mechanical erosion.

Selected Publications

L. Ristroph and S. Childress, "Stable hovering of a jellyfish-like flying machine", Journal of the Royal Society Interface 11, 20130992 (2014)
L. Ristroph, M. N.J. Moore, S. Childress, M.J. Shelley, and J. Zhang, "Sculpting of an erodible body by flowing water", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109, 19606 (2012)
B. Liu, L. Ristroph, A. Weathers, S. Childress, and J. Zhang, "Intrinsic stability of a body hovering in an oscillating airflow", Physical Review Letters 108, 068103 (2012)

Research Groups