Niklas Manz
The William F. Harn Associate Professor of Physics
Physics
Biography
Areas of Interest
Pattern Formation and Dynamics in Nonequilibrium Systems
Courses Taught
- First Year Seminar
- Physics Revolutions
- Environmental Physics
- Physics of the Life Sciences I and II
- Algebra Physics Laboratory I and II
- Physics for the Physical Sciences I and II
- Physics for the Physical Sciences Laboratory II
- Classical Mechanics
- Modern Physics Laboratory
- Thermal Physics
- Junior Independent Study
Selected Publications & Presentations
- N. Manz and Y. Manz. Spiral Waves on Hemispheres in Stefan C. Müller and Kinko Tsuji (Eds.), ‘Do you know what you see? – Understanding marvelous patterns in complex systems‘, Springer International Publishing (2026).
- N. Manz and A. Mason. Anomalous Wave Behavior in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction in Stefan C. Müller and Kinko Tsuji (Eds.), ‘Do you know what you see? – Understanding marvelous patterns in complex systems‘, Springer International Publishing (2026).
- Y. Ren, J. F. Lindner, and N. Manz. Guided flame: reaction-diffusion of fire pulses in narrow channels. Open Transport (1) (2026), 20260004.
- M. Wanner, A. R. Thomas, J. F. Lindner, and N. Manz. Chemical Wires: Reaction-Diffusion Waves as Analogues of Electron Drift. Transport Phenomena 1 (2026), 20260001.
- Niklas Manz, Zach Rewinski, Fazly Ataullakhanov, and Vilmos Gáspár. Finding the Eponym for the Belousov–Zhabotinsky Reaction Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science 35 (2025).
- Niklas Manz and Ian McCullough. Eponyms in Science: how long can they get?. Scientometrics 130 (2025).
- N. Manz, Y. Holovatch, and J. Tyson. Julian Hirniak, an early proponent of periodic chemical reactions. Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis 137 (2024), 2507-2538.
- C. A. Fuller, D. Cohen-Cobos, J. F. Lindner, and N. Manz. Light-Sensitive Diffusion Diodes for Reaction-Diffusion Waves. International Journal of Unconventional Computing 19 (2024), 1-15.
- D. Cohen-Cobos, K. Sanders, L. DeGroot, H. Guarnera, C. Leary, J. F. Lindner, and N. Manz. Chemistry Does General Relativity: Reaction-Diffusion Waves Can Model Gravitational Lensing. Frontiers in Physics 11 (2024), 1315966
- R. J. Field, R. M. Mazo, and N. Manz. Science, serendipity, coincidence, and the Oregonator at the University of Oregon, 1969-1974. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science 32 (2022), 052101.
- M. K. McGuire, C. A. Fuller, J. F. Lindner, and N. Manz. Geographic tongue as a reaction-diffusion system. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science 3 (2021), 033118.
- Y. F. Yu, C. A. Fuller, M. K. McGuire, R. Glaser, N. J. Smith, N. Manz, and J. F. Lindner. Disruption and recovery of reaction-diffusion wavefronts interacting with concave, fractal, and soft obstacles. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications 565 (2021), 125536.
- N. Manz. The Twists and Turns of a Dynamic, Nonlinear Career Path. ‘Career Path Story’ article for the ACS Graduate & Postdoctoral Chemist Magazine (2019).
- N. Manz, H. Phillips, C. Herndon, A. E. Ambrose, and F. H. Fenton. Dynamics of Table-top Fire Fronts, Article in SIAM News Online based on presentation at 2019. SIAM Conference on Applications of Dynamical Systems in Snowbird, Utah (2019).
- N. Manz and F. H. Fenton, Patterns and Humans in Kinko Tsuji and Stefan C. Müller (Eds.), ‘Spirals and Vortices‘, Springer International Publishing (2019), 217-224.
- N. J. Smith, R. Glaser, V. H. W. Hui, J. F. Lindner, and N. Manz. Disruption and Recovery of Reaction-Diffusion Wavefronts Colliding with Obstacles. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications 517 (2019), 307-320.
- G. Bordyugov, N. Fischer, H. Engel, N. Manz, and O. Steinbock: Anomalous dispersion in the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction: Experiments and modeling, Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena 239 (2010), 766-775.
Independent Study Advising
- Molly Cohan: WiSE Up: Investigating the Mechanisms of Li-Ion Dynamics in Water-in-Salt Electrolytes (2026)
- Caitlin O’Neil: Investigating behavior and photosensitivity in one-dimensional Belousov–Zhabotinsky systems (2026)
- Yuhe Ren: Fire Pulses in One-dimensional Channels (2026)
- Joe Russo: Curvature Dependent Spiral Frequencies of Belousov–Zhabotinsky Waves (2026)
- Juno Ryan: A History and Modern Analysis of the Trevelyan Rocker (2026)
- Sutton Ursillo: A Materials Science Perspective on the Trevelyan Rocker (2026)
- Nina Hanus: Observing 1D Reaction-diffusion Waves in Belousov-Zhabotinsky Systems, 2025
- Eric Johnson: Development of Biomimetic Gel Dosimeters for 3D Gel Dosimetry, 2025
- Tali Lansing: Goldilocks and the three Motion Management Techniques: Balancing Toxicity and Efficiency in Lung Radiotherapy, 2025
- Aidan Mason, Fabricating a Flow Chemistry System to Investigate Reaction-Diffusion Waves in Advected Belousov-Zhabotinsky Systems, 2024
- Daniel Cohen Cobos, Simulating Reaction-Diffusion Waves to Model Gravitational Lensing, 2023
- Michael Scarberry, The Belousov–Zhabotinsky Reaction and its Photo-Sensitive Metal Complex Catalysts, 2023
- William Hilbert, Designing an Apparatus for Creating 1D Standing Waves Using Reaction-Diffusion-Advection Systems, 2022
- Melita Wiles, Angular Frequency of Rotating Spiral Waves in a Chemical Reaction-Diffusion System, 2022
- Megan Fisher, Creating an Event Horizon Analogue with the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction, 2021
- Craig Klumpp, A Case of Heartburn: Replicating the Heart’s Electrical Signals with Fire, 2021
- Handeul Son, Investigation of Fire Propagation using Discrete Tree Simulations, 2021
- Margaret McGuire, What a Mouthful! Geographic Tongue as a Reaction Diffusion System
(Pre-dental math major, officially advised by Drew Pasteur). See her 2020 Virtual Senior Research Symposium contribution. (Dental school at UNC Chapel Hill), 2020 REU - Daniel Blaikie, Propagation of Light-Sensitive Reaction-Diffusion Waves in Inhomogeneously Illuminated Systems (Masters student in Applied Physics at the University of Oregon), 2019
- Samuel (Sam) Nash, Using Belousov-Zhabotinsky waves as an Analogue to the Event Horizon of a Black Hole, 2019
- Joseph (Joe) Theiss, Slope’s Effect On Discrete Tree Fire Simulations (Security Operations Engineer for Accenture Federal Services), 2019
- Jack Mershon, Modified Propagation of Anomalous Belousov-Zhabotinsky Waves in a Quasi-1D System, 2018
- Nathaniel Smith, A Computational Simulation of Belousov-Zhabotinsky Wave Behavior Around Obstacles, 2018
- Marc Manheim, On the Creation of a Lab-sized Hydrodynamic Event Horizon Analogue, 2017
- Robin Morillo (Physics and Math), The Effects of Slope upon Propagation Speed and Pattern Formation in Forest Fires, 2017
- Mitch Gavin, An Injector to Investigate Reaction-Diffusion-Advection Systems, 2016
- Spencer Kirn, Excitation Waves in Planar, Inhomogeneously Illuminated Systems
- Diego Miramontes Delgado, Creating Quasi Two-Dimensional, Curved Molds with 3-D Printing Technology
Professional Affiliations
- American Physical Society
- American Chemical Society
- American Association of Physics Teachers
Want to learn more?
Interested in Physics or have questions about courses? Feel free to reach out!
Contact Niklas