Prof. Dr. Abbas Ali Saberi

My research spans equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physics, with a particular emphasis on percolation theory and random matrix theory. I use these frameworks to analyse the dynamical and spatial organisation of complex systems — from multifractal wavefunctions at criticality and directed polymers in disordered environments to transport phenomena, traffic flows, granular materials, global economic networks and climate variability on planetary scales.

A central theme is dimensional reduction in three-dimensional critical systems, such as Ising models and spin glasses, to effective two-dimensional descriptions, and the development of random matrix ensembles with long-range correlations that clarify how spectral densities respond to disorder and geometry. I am equally interested in bridging theory with experiment and data, for example by testing geometrical and percolation-based transitions in natural and lab-fabricated samples, and by formulating theoretical frameworks for electrical and thermal conduction in nanostructured and disordered materials. This work aims at a unified, data-informed view of correlated and chaotic media across classical and quantum settings.

• Emergence of Rigidity Percolation in Flowing Granular Systems, Science Advances Vol 9, Issue 35 (2023)
• Unified modeling and experimental realization of electrical and thermal percolation in polymer composites, Applied Physics Reviews 9, 041403 (2022) [Featured Article]
• Universal Gap Scaling in Percolation, Nature Physics 16, 526–530 (2020)
• Evidence for an ancient sea level on Mars, ApJL 896, L25 (2020) [AAS News Feature]
• Competing universalities in KPZ growth models, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 040605 (2019) [Cover Highlight]
• Recent advances in percolation theory and its applications, Physics Reports 578 (2015) [Highly cited]
• Percolation description of the global topography of Earth and the Moon, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 178501 (2013) [Cover Highlight]
• Three-dimensional Ising model Percolation Theory and Conformal Invariance, Euro. Phys. Lett. 92, 67005 (2010)

Google Scholar Profile

• Application of Percolation Theory to Statistical Topographies, in: Meyers R. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (2020) [Book Chapter]