• Ph. D. (2011) in Chemical Physics
  Advisor: Prof. Jonathan V. Selinger
  Thesis: Statistical Mechanics of Nanoparticle Suspensions and Granular Materials
  Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University
• M. S. (2005) in Physics with specialization in theoretical physics
  Diploma with Honor
  National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine
  
• B. S. (2004) in Physics with specialization in theoretical physics
  Diploma with Honor
  National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine
  
• Employment:
  • 2011 - 2012 Postdoctoral Fellow, Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University

Research Interests:

• Jamming transition in granular materials
• Behaviour of the Bacteria in Confined Geometries
• Polymer-disordered liquid crystals
• Nanoparticles in liquid crystals for enhanced material properties
• Nanofluids for enhanced thermal conductivity
• Defects in liquid crystals confined in curved geometries
• Spatiotemporal patterns in Langmuir monolayers
• Helical order in polymers

Selected Recent Publications:

1. Drocco, J., LOPATINA, L. M., Reichhardt, C., Olson Reichhardt, C. J. Dynamics of Self-Driven and Flocking Particles on Periodic Arrays, Proc. SPIE 8458, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation IX, 8458 (2012)
2. LOPATINA, L. M., and Selinger, J. V. Maier-Saupe-type theory of ferroelectric nanoparticles in nematic liquid crystals, Phys. Rev. E 84, 041703 (2011)
3. LOPATINA, L. M., Olson Reichhardt, C. J., and Reichhardt, C. Jamming in Granular Polymers, Phys. Rev. E 84, 011303 (2011)
4. Reznikov, M., LOPATINA, L. M., O'Callaghan, M. J., and Bos, P. J., Effect of surface alignment on analog control of director-rotation in polarization stiffened SmC* devices, J. Appl. Phys.109, 054108 (2011)
5. Olson Reichhardt, C. J., and LOPATINA, L. M. A Ball-and-Chain Polymer Model, Science326, 374 (2009)
6. LOPATINA, L. M., and Selinger, J. V. Theory of Ferroelectric Nanoparticles in Nematic Liquid Crystals, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 197802 (2009)
7. Gupta, K., Suresh, K. A., Kumar, S., LOPATINA, L. M., and Selinger, J. V. Spatiotemporal patterns in a Langmuir monolayer due to driven molecular precession, Phys. Rev. E 78, 041703 (2008)
8. Timofeeva, V., Gavrilov, A. N., McCloskey, J. M., Tolmachev, Y. V., Sprunt, S., LOPATINA, L. M., and Selinger, J. V. Thermal Conductivity and Particle Agglomeration in Alumina Nanofluids: Experiment and Theory, Phys. Rev. E 76, 061203 (2007)