Riddles of the sphinx: Chirality, entropy, and emergence

Abstract: Are there emergent laws governing the spatial interactions of chiral building blocks? I’ll explore these questions in a 2D space using the ``sphinx’’ tile — a simple, non-symmetrical shape which has some unique and minimal properties. It comes in left-handed and right-handed forms (enantiomers), and I’ll explore this toy model under spatial forcing, resulting in various types of order, including crystalline, quasicrystalline, mixed, and fully disordered states. For large systems, the numbers of configurations become extremely large -- so large that new methods are needed to study them. These statistical-mechanics explorations into chirality raise a number of new mysteries, which will be discussed.

Speaker's bio: Prof Huber is a biophysicist with a background in statistical mechanics, dynamical systems, and soft-matter physics working in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California San Francisco. Before joining UCSF, he was the head of Theory at the Biohub SF, a research institute created by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and before that he was associate director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) in Santa Barbara. He has researched and taught at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Arizona, University of Chicago, University of Connecticut, University of Massachusetts, the University of California Berkeley, and the University of California Santa Barbara, and he has worked on a range of problems from branching networks to how coffee drops dry. His work seeks to deepen our knowledge and control of biological processes, structure and function through physical and mathematical theory. In 2026, he received the Ulam Prize, given by the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Moderator's bio: Ted Theodosopoulos is a mathematician who, after working for years in academia and industry, transitioned to teaching at the pre-college level seventeen years ago, the last nine at Nueva, where he teaches math and economics. Ted’s research background is in the area of interacting stochastic systems, with particular applications in biology and economics.

Computer scienceMathematics

Audience: researchers in the topic

---

Relatorium seminar

Series comments: The name "Relatorium" combines "relator" with the Latin root "-ium," meaning "a place for activities" (as in "auditorium" or "gymnasium"). This seminar series is a platform to relate ideas, interact with math, and connect with each other.

In this series, we explore math beyond what we usually hear in standard talks. These sessions fall somewhere between a technical talk and a podcast: moderately formal, yet conversational. The philosophy behind the series is that math is best learned by active participation rather than passive listening. Our aim is to “engage and involve,” inviting everyone to think actively with the speaker. The concepts are accessible, exploratory, and intended to spark questions and discussions.

The idea of relatability has strong ties to compassion — creating space for shared understanding and exploration - which is the spirit of this seminar! This is a pilot project, so we’re here to improvise, learn, and evolve as we go!

---