Our theoretical physics group studies percolation transitions, rigidity transitions, shape instabilities/transitions, and emergent learning in living and nonliving matter. Living matter is another term for biological matter, in vivo or in vitro, while nonliving matter is the more conventional dead stuff that physicists typically study, such as disordered metals, granular materials, and gels. So while our work involves modelling seemingly rather different systems, they are all quantifiable (at some level) as flow/spring/resistor networks, interacting particle models, fiber networks, and even vertex models, allowing for similar types of analyses. More specifically, we aim to answer such questions as:

What are the emergent properties of learning in living and nonliving systems? And how can we train a neural network out of sand? And what about building quantum creatures, such as a Bose-Einstein condensate that adapts to its environment?

How do we develop minimal, multiscale computational models to solve the gene-to-tissue organization biological puzzle (to understand the structural differences between human-derived brain organoids and chimpanzee-derived brain organoids)?

How is the brain (both the cerebrum and the cerebellum) built so we can more fully understand how it works? And how does one construct an organoid-as-an-AI platform (beyond brain organoids as a computing reservoir)?

How does a theoretical physicist combat cancer and COVID?

What is the nature of the rigidity/jamming transition in a packing of frictional granular particles?

What types of disordered spring networks exhibit compressional stiffening--a mechanical feature of both biological tissues and cells---as opposed to compressional softening?

A very brief May 2026 update: With several recent pre-prints, our group is now determining how sand and how cells learn (yes, sand, as mentioned above). We have also begun developing new learning algorithms for quantum systems and will continue to collaborate with theorists and experimentalists across the globe. If you are interested in riding along with us, there is a postdoc opening in the group beginning September 2026. Do not hesitate to reach out.

A brief October 2023 update: From 2021 until now, the Schwarz Group (SG) has working with an increasing number of fabulous experimentalists, such as Alison E. Patteson, Jennifer L. Ross, Madeline A. Lancaster, and Andrew D. Stephens, as well as fantastic theorists, such as Christian D. Santangelo, Tao, Zhang, Benjamin Scellier, and Edward Banigan. Additional new collaborations are in the works. We are making some headway in the realm of minimal, multiscale computational modeling approaches to the morphology and rheology of organoids/spheroids. Please note that the juxtaposition of "minimal" with "multiscale" may appear contradictory; however, I assure you it is not. We are also making some progress in the emergent field of physical learning in which the material is the brain!

A brief January 2021 update: 2020 was an intense year to say the least! The Schwarz Group (SG) went from being funded by 1.5 grants (PI on one grant and co-PI on another) to being funded by 3.5 grants. In terms of the biology, we are now funded to study the physics of cancer, how to make a brain organoid computer, and how cells uptake the SARS2 virus. The brain organoid grant is actually an Isaac Newton Award for Transformative Ideas during the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Department of Defense! However, it has been the SARS2 work that has probably kept me (J. M. Schwarz) the most sane throughout 2020 by channeling at least some of the SG brain power towards figuring out more things about this nasty little bugger. My work with our department's new Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Committee also helped keep my sanity. Our collaborations with superb experimentalists continue and, as promised, the SG formally broadened our modeling reach at both the tissue and cell scale to now include the chromatin scale. See our recent Output listings for more details. And please stay safe as we head further into 2021.

Given the above blurb about our group, please tour the rest of this website to become a little more familiar with our work. Also, do not hesitate to email me at jmschwarztheorygroup@gmail.com , or anyone else in the group, with questions.