Yu Zheng

Yu currently is a Physics PhD student in Complex Materials Lab with Prof. Yang Jiao at Arizona State University (ASU). She obtained B.S. in Physics at Nankai University in 2017.

About Me

I am interested in computational physics and condensed matter theory and have been working on analytical and computational modeling of hyperuniform systems and modeling multi-cellular dynamics. I have published research articles regarding disordered hyperuniform systems and multi-cellular dynamics in peer-reviewed journals such as Physical Review E, Science Advances, PNAS and Angwendte Cheime. Recently I focus on combining physical models with machine learning techniques to study cell behaviors.

Email: yuzheng@asu.edu

Google Scholar

Research

We discover two distinct topological pathways through which the pentagonal Cairo tiling (P5), a structural model for single-layer AB2 pyrite materials, respectively transforms into a crystalline rhombus-hexagon (C46) tiling and random rhombus-pentagon-hexagon (R456) tilings, by continuously introducing the Stone-Wales (SW) topological defects. We find these topological transformations are controlled by the orientation correlations among neighboring B-B bonds, and exhibit a phenomenological analogy of the (anti)ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition in two-state Ising systems.

The image is illustration of two distinct topological pathways through which the pentagonal Cairo tiling (P5) respectively transforms into a crystalline rhombus-hexagon (C46) tiling (upper image) and random rhombus-pentagon-hexagon (R456) tilings (lower image) by continuously introducing the SW defects.

Motivated by experimental discoveries, we develop an active-particle model with polarized effective attractions (APPA) for modeling emergent multi-cellular migration dynamics regulated by ECM-mediated mechanical communications. In particular, the APPA model generalizes the classic active-Brownian particle (ABP) model by imposing a pairwise polarized attractive force between the particles, which depends on the instantaneous dynamic states of the particles and mimics the effective mutual pulling between the cells via the fiber bundle bridge.

Active particles with polarized pairwise attractions exhibit enhanced aggregation behaviors compared to classic active Brownian particles, especially at lower particle densities and larger rotational diffusivities.

Here is the web-based interactive app for simulating the system: https://cmgrouplab.github.io/APPAonline.

Disordered hyperuniformity (DHU) is a recently proposed new state of matter, which has been observed in a variety of classical and quantum many-body systems. DHU systems are characterized by vanishing infinite-wavelength density fluctuations and are endowed with unique novel physical properties. The image shows disordered hyperuniform silica network generated via computer simulations. Blue and red spheres denote Si and O atoms, respectively. Inset shows intensity map derived from the positions of silicon atoms for spectral density analysis.

We report the first discovery of disordered hyperuniformity in atomic-scale 2D materials, i.e., amorphous silica composed of a single layer of atoms, based on spectral-density analysis of high-resolution transmission electron microscope images. Moreover, we show via large-scale density functional theory calculations that DHU leads to almost complete closure of the electronic band gap compared to the crystalline counterpart, making the material effectively a metal.

Motivated by cancer cell capture and sorting applications, we investigate the scalar velocity field of two-dimensional (2D) laminar flows through configurations of fixed congruent circular disks with a disordered hyperuniform (HU) distribution of the disk centers. The image shows the flow flied resulted from a hyperuniform distribution of hard disks.

Disordered hyperuniform many-particle systems suppress large-scale density fluctuations like perfect crystals and yet possess no Bragg peaks, and are endowed with many novel physical properties.

After employing numerical spectral analysis, we found that HU configurations can lead to hyperuniform flow fields for small packing densities φ and flow rates q. The degree of hyperuniformity of the flow fields reduces as φ and q increase and the fields eventually become non-hyperuniform.


Publications

2021

  1. D. Chen, Y. Zheng, C.-H. Lee, S. Kang, W. Zhu, H. Zhuang, P. Y. Huang, and Y. Jiao, Nearly Hyperuniform, Non-hyperuniform, and Anti-hyperuniform Density Fluctuations in Defected Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides, Physical Review B 103, 224012 (2021)

  2. Y. Zheng, D. Chen, L. Liu, M. Chen, H. Zhuang, and Y. Jiao, Topological Transformations in Hyperuniform Pentagonal 2D Materials Induced by Stone-Wales Defects, Physical Review B 103, 245413 (2021)

  3. Y. Liu, Y. Jiao, D. He, Q. Fan, Y. Zheng, G. Li, G. Wang, J. Yao, G. Chen, S. Lou, J. Shuai, L. Liu, Deriving Time-Varying Cellular Motility Parameters via Wavelet Analysis, Physical Biology 18, 046007 (2021)

  4. Y. Liu, Y. Jiao, Q. Fan, Y. Zheng, G. Li, J. Yao, G. Wang, S. Lou, G. Chen, J. Shuai, and L. Liu, Shannon Entropy for Time-Varying Persistence of Cell Migration, Biophysical Journal 120, 2552 (2021)

  5. Wang, L.-P. Zhou, Y. Zheng, K. Wang, B. Song, X. Yan, L. Wojtas, X.-Q. Wang, X. Jiang, M. Wang, Q.-F. Sun, B.-Q. Xu, H.-B. Yang, A. C.-H. Sue, Y-T Chan, J. L. Sessler, Y. Jiao, P. J. Stang, X. Li, Double-Layered Supramolecular Prisms Self-Assembled by Geometrically Non-equivalent Tetratopic Subunits, Angewandte Chemie 133, 1318 (2021)

  6. Q. Fan, Y. Zheng, X. Wang, R. Xie, Y. Ding, B. Wang, X. Yu, Y. Lu, L. Liu, Y. Li, M. Li, Y. Zhao, Y. Jiao, F. Ye, Dynamically Re-organized Collagen Fiber Bundles Transmit Mechanical Signals and Induce Strongly Correlated Cell Migration and Self-Organization, Angewandte Chemie 60, 11858 (2021)

  7. D. Chen, Y. Zheng, L. Liu, G. Zhang, M. Chen, Y. Jiao, H. Zhuang, Stone-Wales Defects Preserve Hyperuniformity in Amorphous Two-Dimensional Networks, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118, e2016862118 (2021)


2020

  1. J. Kim, Y. Zheng, A. A. Alobaidi, H. Nan, J. Tian, Y. Jiao, and B. Sun, Geometric Dependence of Three-Dimensional Collective Cancer Invasion, Biophysical Journal 118, 1177 (2020) [This work is highlighted as the front cover of the journal.]

  2. Y. Zheng, L. Liu, H. Nan, Z. X. Shen, G. Zhang, D. Chen, L. He, W. Xu, M. Chen, Y. Jiao, and H. Zhuang, Disordered Hyperuniformity in Two-Dimensional Amorphous Silica, Science Advances 6, eaba0826 (2020)

  3. Y. Zheng, Q. Fan, C. Z. Eddy, X. Wang, B. Sun, F. Ye, and Y. Jiao, Modeling Multi-Cellular Dynamics Regulated by ECM-Mediated Mechanical Communication via Active Particles with Polarized Effective Attraction, Physical Review E 102, 052409 (2020)

2019

  1. Y. Zheng, H. Nan, Y. Liu, Q. Fan, X. Wang, R. Liu, L. Liu, F. Ye, B. Sun, and Y. Jiao, Modeling Cell Migration Regulated by Cell-ECM Micromechanical Coupling, Physical Review E 100, 043303 (2019)

  2. H. Nan, Y. Zheng, Y. H. Lin, S. Chen, C. Z. Eddy, J. Tian, W. Xu, B. Sun, and Y. Jiao, Absorbing-Active Transition in Multi-Cellular System Regulated by Dynamic Force Network, Soft Matter 15, 6938 (2019) [This work is featured on the Back Cover of Soft Matter]

  3. R. Liu, K. Song, Z. Hu, W. Cao, J. Shuai, S. Chen, H. Nan, Y. Zheng, Y. Yang, H. Yan, Q. Li, Y. Jiao, and L. Liu, Diversity of Collective Migration Patterns of Invasive Breast Cancer Cells Emerging During Microtrack Invasion, Physical Review E 99, 062403 (2019)

  4. S. Chen, W. Xu, J. Kim, H. Nan, Y. Zheng, B. Sun, and Y. Jiao, Novel Inverse Finite-Element Formulation for Reconstruction of Relative Local Stiffness in Heterogeneous Extra-Cellular Matrix and Traction Forces on Active Cells, Physical Biology 16, 036002 (2019)

2018

  1. Z. Ding, Y. Zheng, Y. Jiao, and W. Li, Hyperuniform Flow Fields Resulting from Hyperuniform Configurations of Circular Disks, Physical Review E 98, 063101 (2018)