Soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet

Anne Voigtländer; Morgane Houssais; Karol A. Bacik; Ian C. Bourg; Justin C. Burton; Karen E. Daniels; Sujit S. Datta; Emanuela Del Gado; Nakul S. Deshpande; Olivier Devauchelle; Behrooz Ferdowsi; Rachel Glade; Lucas Goehring; Ian J. Hewitt; Douglas Jerolmack; Ruben Juanes; Arshad Kudrolli; Ching Yao Lai; Wei Li; Claire Masteller; Kavinda Nissanka; Allan M. Rubin; Howard A. Stone; Jenny Suckale; Nathalie M. Vriend; John S. Wettlaufer; Judy Q. Yang

doi:10.1039/d4sm00391h

Soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet

Anne Voigtländer, Morgane Houssais, Karol A. Bacik, Ian C. Bourg, Justin C. Burton, Karen E. Daniels, Sujit S. Datta, Emanuela Del Gado, Nakul S. Deshpande, Olivier Devauchelle, Behrooz Ferdowsi, Rachel Glade, Lucas Goehring, Ian J. Hewitt, Douglas Jerolmack, Ruben Juanes, Arshad Kudrolli, Ching Yao Lai, Wei Li, Claire MastellerKavinda Nissanka, Allan M. Rubin, Howard A. Stone, Jenny Suckale, Nathalie M. Vriend, John S. Wettlaufer, Judy Q. Yang

Princeton University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

The soft part of the Earth's surface - the ground beneath our feet - constitutes the basis for life and natural resources, yet a general physical understanding of the ground is still lacking. In this critical time of climate change, cross-pollination of scientific approaches is urgently needed to better understand the behavior of our planet's surface. The major topics in current research in this area cross different disciplines, spanning geosciences, and various aspects of engineering, material sciences, physics, chemistry, and biology. Among these, soft matter physics has emerged as a fundamental nexus connecting and underpinning many research questions. This perspective article is a multi-voice effort to bring together different views and approaches, questions and insights, from researchers that work in this emerging area, the soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet. In particular, we identify four major challenges concerned with the dynamics in and of the ground: (I) modeling from the grain scale, (II) near-criticality, (III) bridging scales, and (IV) life. For each challenge, we present a selection of topics by individual authors, providing specific context, recent advances, and open questions. Through this, we seek to provide an overview of the opportunities for the broad Soft Matter community to contribute to the fundamental understanding of the physics of the ground, strive towards a common language, and encourage new collaborations across the broad spectrum of scientists interested in the matter of the Earth's surface.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	5859-5888
Number of pages	30
Journal	Soft matter
Volume	20
Issue number	30
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sm00391h
State	Published - Jul 16 2024

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
Condensed Matter Physics

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10.1039/d4sm00391h

Cite this

Voigtländer, A., Houssais, M., Bacik, K. A., Bourg, I. C., Burton, J. C., Daniels, K. E., Datta, S. S., Del Gado, E., Deshpande, N. S., Devauchelle, O., Ferdowsi, B., Glade, R., Goehring, L., Hewitt, I. J., Jerolmack, D., Juanes, R., Kudrolli, A., Lai, C. Y., Li, W., ... Yang, J. Q. (2024). Soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet. Soft matter, 20(30), 5859-5888. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sm00391h

@article{8121f98a345e44c6b72755ddaf016216,

title = "Soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet",

abstract = "The soft part of the Earth's surface - the ground beneath our feet - constitutes the basis for life and natural resources, yet a general physical understanding of the ground is still lacking. In this critical time of climate change, cross-pollination of scientific approaches is urgently needed to better understand the behavior of our planet's surface. The major topics in current research in this area cross different disciplines, spanning geosciences, and various aspects of engineering, material sciences, physics, chemistry, and biology. Among these, soft matter physics has emerged as a fundamental nexus connecting and underpinning many research questions. This perspective article is a multi-voice effort to bring together different views and approaches, questions and insights, from researchers that work in this emerging area, the soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet. In particular, we identify four major challenges concerned with the dynamics in and of the ground: (I) modeling from the grain scale, (II) near-criticality, (III) bridging scales, and (IV) life. For each challenge, we present a selection of topics by individual authors, providing specific context, recent advances, and open questions. Through this, we seek to provide an overview of the opportunities for the broad Soft Matter community to contribute to the fundamental understanding of the physics of the ground, strive towards a common language, and encourage new collaborations across the broad spectrum of scientists interested in the matter of the Earth's surface.",

author = "Anne Voigtl{\"a}nder and Morgane Houssais and Bacik, {Karol A.} and Bourg, {Ian C.} and Burton, {Justin C.} and Daniels, {Karen E.} and Datta, {Sujit S.} and {Del Gado}, Emanuela and Deshpande, {Nakul S.} and Olivier Devauchelle and Behrooz Ferdowsi and Rachel Glade and Lucas Goehring and Hewitt, {Ian J.} and Douglas Jerolmack and Ruben Juanes and Arshad Kudrolli and Lai, {Ching Yao} and Wei Li and Claire Masteller and Kavinda Nissanka and Rubin, {Allan M.} and Stone, {Howard A.} and Jenny Suckale and Vriend, {Nathalie M.} and Wettlaufer, {John S.} and Yang, {Judy Q.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 The Royal Society of Chemistry.",

year = "2024",

month = jul,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1039/d4sm00391h",

language = "American English",

volume = "20",

pages = "5859--5888",

journal = "Soft matter",

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publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry",

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Voigtländer, A, Houssais, M, Bacik, KA, Bourg, IC, Burton, JC, Daniels, KE, Datta, SS, Del Gado, E, Deshpande, NS, Devauchelle, O, Ferdowsi, B, Glade, R, Goehring, L, Hewitt, IJ, Jerolmack, D, Juanes, R, Kudrolli, A, Lai, CY, Li, W, Masteller, C, Nissanka, K, Rubin, AM , Stone, HA, Suckale, J, Vriend, NM, Wettlaufer, JS & Yang, JQ 2024, 'Soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet', Soft matter, vol. 20, no. 30, pp. 5859-5888. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sm00391h

TY - JOUR

T1 - Soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet

AU - Voigtländer, Anne

AU - Houssais, Morgane

AU - Bacik, Karol A.

AU - Bourg, Ian C.

AU - Burton, Justin C.

AU - Daniels, Karen E.

AU - Datta, Sujit S.

AU - Del Gado, Emanuela

AU - Deshpande, Nakul S.

AU - Devauchelle, Olivier

AU - Ferdowsi, Behrooz

AU - Glade, Rachel

AU - Goehring, Lucas

AU - Hewitt, Ian J.

AU - Jerolmack, Douglas

AU - Juanes, Ruben

AU - Kudrolli, Arshad

AU - Lai, Ching Yao

AU - Li, Wei

AU - Masteller, Claire

AU - Nissanka, Kavinda

AU - Rubin, Allan M.

AU - Stone, Howard A.

AU - Suckale, Jenny

AU - Vriend, Nathalie M.

AU - Wettlaufer, John S.

AU - Yang, Judy Q.

PY - 2024/7/16

Y1 - 2024/7/16

N2 - The soft part of the Earth's surface - the ground beneath our feet - constitutes the basis for life and natural resources, yet a general physical understanding of the ground is still lacking. In this critical time of climate change, cross-pollination of scientific approaches is urgently needed to better understand the behavior of our planet's surface. The major topics in current research in this area cross different disciplines, spanning geosciences, and various aspects of engineering, material sciences, physics, chemistry, and biology. Among these, soft matter physics has emerged as a fundamental nexus connecting and underpinning many research questions. This perspective article is a multi-voice effort to bring together different views and approaches, questions and insights, from researchers that work in this emerging area, the soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet. In particular, we identify four major challenges concerned with the dynamics in and of the ground: (I) modeling from the grain scale, (II) near-criticality, (III) bridging scales, and (IV) life. For each challenge, we present a selection of topics by individual authors, providing specific context, recent advances, and open questions. Through this, we seek to provide an overview of the opportunities for the broad Soft Matter community to contribute to the fundamental understanding of the physics of the ground, strive towards a common language, and encourage new collaborations across the broad spectrum of scientists interested in the matter of the Earth's surface.

AB - The soft part of the Earth's surface - the ground beneath our feet - constitutes the basis for life and natural resources, yet a general physical understanding of the ground is still lacking. In this critical time of climate change, cross-pollination of scientific approaches is urgently needed to better understand the behavior of our planet's surface. The major topics in current research in this area cross different disciplines, spanning geosciences, and various aspects of engineering, material sciences, physics, chemistry, and biology. Among these, soft matter physics has emerged as a fundamental nexus connecting and underpinning many research questions. This perspective article is a multi-voice effort to bring together different views and approaches, questions and insights, from researchers that work in this emerging area, the soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet. In particular, we identify four major challenges concerned with the dynamics in and of the ground: (I) modeling from the grain scale, (II) near-criticality, (III) bridging scales, and (IV) life. For each challenge, we present a selection of topics by individual authors, providing specific context, recent advances, and open questions. Through this, we seek to provide an overview of the opportunities for the broad Soft Matter community to contribute to the fundamental understanding of the physics of the ground, strive towards a common language, and encourage new collaborations across the broad spectrum of scientists interested in the matter of the Earth's surface.

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U2 - 10.1039/d4sm00391h

DO - 10.1039/d4sm00391h

M3 - Review article

C2 - 39012310

SN - 1744-683X

VL - 20

SP - 5859

EP - 5888

JO - Soft matter

JF - Soft matter

IS - 30

ER -

Soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet

Abstract

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