Boulder School 2026: Lecture Notes

• All school materials, including lecture notes, problem sets, and reading materials, are hosted on Google Drive and available at the following address: Course materials on Google Drive
• Google Doc for tutorial sessions available at following address: Tutorial sessions Google Doc
• All files are in PDF format or direct linked. Watch the full lecture playlist on YouTube. See below for videos of individual lectures.
• Poster Sessions:
  • Student Poster Session #1 (select Session 1)
  • Student Poster Session #2 (select Session 2)
  • Student Poster Session #3 (select Session 3)

Week 1: Elasticity and Geometry

Michael Moshe - Geometric Mechanics of Solids

• Lecture Notes
  • Moshe - Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Additional Materials
  • Moshe – Extra Material (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Moshe - Lecture 1 Video
  • Moshe - Lecture 2 Video
  • Moshe - Lecture 3 Video
  • Moshe - Lecture 4 Video

Dick James - Elasticity Theory

• Related Reading
  • James - Notes and Examples from Tensor Analysis for Continuum Mechanics
• Lecture Notes
  • James – Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Problem Set
  • James – Problem Set (PDF)
• Video Links
  • James – Lecture 1 Video
  • James - Lecture 2 Video
  • James - Lecture 3 Video

Chris Rycroft - Computational Methods of Elastic Sheets

• Lecture Notes
  • Rycroft – Lecture Slides 1 (PDF)
  • Rycroft – Lecture Notes 1 (PDF)
  • Rycroft – Lecture Slides 2 (PDF)
  • Rycroft – Lecture Slides 3 (PDF)
• Problem Set
  • Rycroft – Problem Set (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Rycroft – Lecture 1 Video
  • Rycroft - Lecture 2 Video
  • Rycroft - Lecture 3 Video

Randy Kamien - Topology in Materials

• Related Readings
  • Kamien - The geometry of soft materials: a primer (PDF)
  • Kamien - Supersymmetry and Morse Theory by Edward Witten (PDF)
  • Kamien - Adventures in Physics and Math by Edward Witten (link)
  • Kamien - Differential Forms with Applications to the Physical Sciences by Harley Flanders (PDF)
• Lecture Notes
  • Kamien – Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Kamien – Lecture 1 Video
  • Kamien - Lecture 2 Video
  • Kamien - Lecture 3 Video

Week 2: Complex Fluids

Mike Shelley - Fluid and Continuum Mechanics

• Lecture Notes
  • Shelley – Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Shelley – Lecture 1 Video
  • Shelley – Lecture 2 Video
  • Shelley - Lecture 3 Video
  • Shelley - Lecture 4 Video

Saverio Spagnolie - Hydrodynamics of Complex Fluids

• Lecture Notes
  • Spagnolie – Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Spagnolie – Lecture 1 Video
  • Spagnolie - Lecture 2 Video
  • Spagnolie - Lecture 3 Video

Petia Vlahovska - Interfaces and Membrane Dynamics

• Lecture Notes
  • Vlahovska - Lecture Slides overview 1 (PDF)
  • Vlahovska - Lecture Slides 1 (PPTX)
  • Vlahovska - Lecture Notes 1 (PDF)
  • Vlahovska - Lecture Slides overview 2 (PDF)
  • Vlahovska - Lecture Notes 2 (PDF)
• Supplementary Materials
  • Mathematica - Fluctuating Membrane (TXT) 
  • Mathematica - Membrane Fluctuations Relaxation Rate (TXT)
• Video Links
  • Vlahovska - Lecture 1 Video 
  • Vlahovska - Lecture 2 Video
  • Vlahovska - Lecture 3 Video

Cristina Marchetti - Active Fluids

• Lecture Notes
  • Marchetti - Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Marchetti - Lecture 1 Video
  • Marchetti - Lecture 2 Video
  • Marchetti - Lecture 3 Video

Week 3: Heterogeneous Materials

Greg Grason - Geometric Frustration in Soft Matter

• Lecture notes 
  • Grason - Lecture Notes 1 Intro to GFA (PDF)
  • Grason - Lecture Notes 2 Continuum Theory of GFA (PDF)
  • Grason - Lecture Notes 3 Size and Shape Selection in GFA (PDF)
  • Grason - Lecture Notes 4 Frustration Escape (PDF)
• Problems
  • Grason - Sample Problems (PDF)
• Supplementary Materials
  • Grason - Reading List (PDF)
  • Grason - Lecture 1 3D Examples (PDF)
• Video Links 
  • Grason - Lecture 1 Video
  • Grason - Lecture 2 Video
  • Grason - Lecture 3 Video
  • Grason - Lecture 4 Video
  • Grason - Public Lecture Video

Xiaoming Mao - Waves and Topological Mechanics

• Lecture Notes
  • Mao – LaTeX Notes (PDF)
  • Mao - hand-written notes that more closely follow the lectures (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Mao – Lecture 1 Video
  • Mao - Lecture 2 Video
  • Mao - Lecture 3 Video

Julian Panetta - Computational Homogenization and Inverse Design

• Lecture Notes
  • Panetta - Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Problems
  • Panetta - Problem Set (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Panetta - Lecture 1 Video
  • Panetta - Lecture 2 Video
  • Panetta - Lecture 3 Video

Elena Katifori - Physical Networks

• Lecture Notes
  • Katifori - Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Katifori - Lecture 1 Video
  • Katifori - Lecture 2 Video
  • Katifori - Lecture 3 Video

Week 4: Physical Networks

Ileana Streinu - Rigidity Theory

• Video Links
  • Streinu - Lecture 1 Video
  • Streinu - Lecture 2 Video
  • Streinu - Lecture 3 Video

J.M. Schwarz - Mechanics and Learning in Networks

• Lecture Notes
  • Schwarz - Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Schwarz - Lecture 1 Video
  • Schwarz - Lecture 2 Video
  • Schwarz - Lecture 3 Video

Carl Modes - Dynamics of Networks

• Lecture Notes
  • Modes - Lecture Notes 1 & 2 (PDF)
  • Modes - Lecture Notes 3 & 4 (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Modes - Lecture 1 Video
  • Modes - Lecture 2 Video
  • Modes - Lecture 3 Video
  • Modes - Lecture 4 Video

Ian Tobasco - Homogenization of Mechanical Metamaterials

• Lecture Notes
  • Tobasco - Lecture Slides (PDF)
  • Tobasco - Lecture Notes (PDF)
• Extra Material
  • Tobasco - Reference List (PDF)
• Video Links
  • Tobasco - Lecture 1 Video
  • Tobasco - Lecture 2 Video
  • Tobasco - Lecture 3 Video

Leo Radzihovsky  - Tutorial on "Critical Soft Matter"

• Radzihovsky - Lecture Slides (PDF)
• Radzihovsky - reference review paper
• Radzihovsky - Anisotropic and Heterogeneous  Polymerized Membranes, from Jerusalem Winter School Lecture Notes (PDF)