Robert Ziff

Professor, Chemical Engineering

Computer modeling of percolation and epidemics

I study the percolation model, which is the model for long-range connectivity formation in systems that include polymerization, flow in porous media, cell-phone signals, and the spread of diseases. I study this on random graphs and other networks, and on regular lattices in various dimensions, using computer simulation and analysis. We have also worked on developing new algorithms. I am currently applying these methods to studying the COVID-19 pandemic, which also requires comparison with some of the vast amount of data that is available from every part of the world.