Curriculum vitae
Personal record
7 February 2011
Full Name:
Vicenç Méndez
Position:
Associate Professor of Condensed Matter Physics
Address:
Department of Physics, Statistical Physics Group. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Faculty of
Sciences. Edifici Cc. 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola) Spain
E-mail:
vicenc.mendez@uab.es
Date of Birth:
29 January 1969.
Education:
1987-1993 – Degree on Physics. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Spain;
Qualifications: 1998 – PhD in Statistical Physics. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Spain;
Present
Employment:
Previous
Employment:
since May 2007 – Associate (Agregat) Professor of Condensed Matter Physics, Universitat Autònoma
de Barcelona.
1998-2006 –Associate Professor of Applied Physics. Medicine Department. Universitat Internacional
de Catalunya. Spain;
1997-1998 –Research training grant. Department of Environmental Sciences. Universitat de Girona.
Spain;
1994-1996 –Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Spain;
Teaching
Current
Teaching
Duties:
Undergraduate teaching
Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics (3 lectures per week);
Previous
Teaching:
Undergraduate teaching
Biophysics. Physics for Medicine. Fluid Physics. Fluid Mechanics. Thermodynamics. Physics for
Biology. General Physics. Irreversible Thermodynamics. Calculus for Physics. Physics in
Architecture. Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics.
PhD in Physics teaching
Research methodology (UIC, 30 hours). Front propagation: physical and biological applications. (20
hours). June 2005 and May 2007. Recent perspectives in Physics (PhD course in Physics, UAB).
May 2001, May 2003, May 2004. Reaction-diffusion fronts: chemical, biological and physical
applications (PhD course in Experimental sciences. UdG) June 2003. Biological Physics and Complex
systems (Master in Adv. Physics. January 2008. 15 hours), Modelling (Master in Adv. Physics.
January 2008. 15 hours)
Research and academic/professional standing
Areas
of Research
and Grants:
Anomalous transport, wave theory and random walks. Ecological modelling
The research is concerned with continuous random walks, anomalous diffusion, advection
and waves in reaction-transport systems with memory and long-range interactions.
Applications to human migrations and biological invasions.
Fellowship of the projects:
“Thermodynamics, hydrodynamics and statistical mechanics in the mesoscopic descriptions of
systems far from equilibrium”. DGICyT (PB94-0718). 1994-2000. PI: Prof. J. Casas-Vázquez.
Total: 101175 euros.
“Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of complex systems”. DGICyT (BFM 2000-0351). 20012003. PI: Prof. J. Casas-Vázquez. Total: 41200 euros.
“Thermodynamics, dynamics and statistical mechanics of complex systems”. DGICyT (BFM 200306033). 2004-2006. PI: Prof. D. Jou. Total: 100000 euros.
“Suport a Grups de Recerca Consolidats” funded by Generalitat de Catalunya under grants: 1999
SGR-00095, 2001 SGR-00186, 2005 SGR-00087
Current grants:
Supported as a fellowship by two-years EPSRC Research Grant (EP/D03115X/1)
“Waves in reaction-transport systems with memory and long-distance dispersal effects”.
PI: S. Fedotov.Total: £10 279. Starting date: 20 February 2006.
“State equations and transport equations of complex systems”. MEC (FIS2006-12296-C02-01). 20062009. PI: Prof. D. Jou. Total: 75000 euros.
Current
Research
Collaboration: S. Fedotov and Daniel Campos, The Manchester University, UK (Wave propagation);
W. Horsthemke, South Methodist University, USA (anomalous transport);
R. D. Benguria and M. C. Depassier , Pontificia Univ. Catolica de Chile (variational principles)
H. Rotstein, New Jersey University, USA (wave propagation).
E. P. Zemskov, University of New Mexico, USA (segregation and pursuit waves)
Reviewer:
1) FONDECYT (Chile) proposals;
2) referee for the following journals:
Phys. Rev. E,
The American Naturalist
Bulletin of Mathematical Biology
Fluctuation and Noise Letters,
Physica A
European Physical Journal B
Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences
Journal of the Lithuanian Association of Nonlinear Analysis
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
Ecological Modelling
Computers & Mathematics with applications
Supervision
of research
students:
Previous PhD students:
Vicente Ortega-Cejas, 2001-2006, travelling wave and ecological modelling; PhD in Physics
Previous MSc students:
1) Vicente Ortega-Cejas, 2001-2004, MSc thesis on “The role of delay time in biological invasions”,
MSc degree awarded;
2) Daniel Campos, 2001-2004, MSc thesis on “The effect of multigenerations on invasion fronts”,
MSc degree awarded;
Ph.D.
Examinations: D. Campos, Authonomous University of Barcelona, May 2005, serving as a PhD examiner
(rapporteur) and as a member of the jury.
Invited
Conference
Participation:
JETC IX (Joint European Thermodynamics Conference) in Saint-Etienne, Ecole des mines, June 1215 2007. Oral talk entitled: Hyperbolic reaction-diffusion models for virus infections. Published in the
International Journal of Thermodynamics vol. 11, pp. 35-38. March 2008
XXXIV Summer School-Conference "Advanced Problems in Mechanics, 25 June - July, 2007, St.
Petersburg, Russia (invited talk);
Workshop Anomalous Transport: Experimental Results and Theoretical Challenges, July 12 to 16,
2006, in the Physikzentrum Bad Honnef, Bonn, Germany (invited talk);
12th Chilean Symposium of Physics. 2000. Santiago de Chile (invited talk)
Alcalá 2nd International Conference on Mathematical Ecology in Universidad de Alcalá (Madrid),
June 2003. Poster presentation.
8th Joint European Thermodynamics Conference. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain).
September 2003
Physik seit Einstein. Dynamics and Statistical Physics. 69 Jahrestagung der Deutchen Physicalischen
Gesellschaft. Berlin, June 2005. Poster presentation
XVI Conference of Statistical Physics. Fises 09. Huelva from September 10 to 12, 2009. Poster
presentation with title “Mesoscopic model for plant invasion”
Invited
Professor:
General Membership of the Institute for Mathematic and its Applications. University of Minnesota
(Minneapolis) USA. From May 1 to May 31, 2008.
Short-term visitor at The University of Manchester (UK) School of Mathematics. 18 June 2007 - 8
June 2007
Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences. University of Cambridge. From August 16 to
September 16.
Acreditations:
Acreditation for Profesor Titular (Associate Professor in US) in Condensed Matter Physics by
ANECA (Spanish Quality Agency) in Septermber 2008
Administration
Coordinator of the Physics and Complex Systems module in the PhD course on Physics (UAB). Since
2007
Member of the Quality and Evaluation Comission of the UAB. Since 2007
Coordinator of the Master studies in Advanced Physics (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona). Since
September 2008
Coordinator of the Master studies in Physics of Biological Systems and Radiophysics (Universitat
Autonoma de Barcelona). Since June 2010
List of Publications in referred (peer review) journal
1.
V. Méndez and D. Pavón, Expanding models with a varying cosmological term and bulk stress. General
Relativity and Gravitation 28 (1996) 679
2.
V. Méndez and J. Triginer, Qualitative analysis of causal cosmological models. Journal of Mathematical
Physics 37 (1996) 2906
3.
V. Méndez and D. Pavón, Exact solutions connecting radiation and matter eras using imperfect fluids.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 282 (1996) 753
4.
V. Méndez, Exact scalar field cosmologies with a fluid, Classical and Quantum Gravity 13 (1996) 3229
5.
V. Méndez, D. Pavón and J. Salim, Absortion of gravitational radiation by the cosmic fluid, Classical and
Quantum Gravity 14 (1997) 77
6.
R. Maartens and V. Méndez, Nonlinear bulk viscosity and inflation, Physical Review D 55 (1997) 1937
7.
V. Méndez and J. Camacho, Dynamics and Thermodynamics of delayed population growth, Physical Review
E 55 (1997) 6476
8.
V. Méndez, Nonlinear hyperbolic heat conduction, Journal of Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics 22 (1997)
217
9.
V. Méndez and J. E. Llebot, Hyperbolic reaction-diffusion equations for a forest fire model, Physical Review
E 56 (1997) 6557
10. L. P. Chimento, A. S. Jakubi, V. Méndez and R. Maartens, Cosmological solutions with nonlinear bulk
viscosity, Classical and Quantum Gravity 14 (1997) 3363
11. L. P. Chimento, A. S. Jakubi and V. Méndez, New cosmological solutions and stability analysis in full
extended thermodynamics, International Journal of Modern Physics D 7 (1998) 177
12. V. Méndez, Variational principles for nonlinear dynamical systems, Journal of Mathematical Physics 39
(1998) 954
13. V. Méndez, Epidemic models with infected-infectious period. Physical Review E 57 (1998) 3622
14. V. Méndez and A. Compte, Wavefronts in bistable hyperbolic reaction-diffusion systems. Physica A 260
(1998) 90
15. J. Fort, J. Casas-Vázquez and V. Méndez, Extended irreversible thermodynamics of chemically reacting
systems. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 103 (1999) 860
16. J. Fort and V. Méndez, Time-delayed theory of the neolithic transition in Europe, Physical Review Letters 82
(1999) 867
17. J. Fort and V. Méndez, Reaction-diffusion waves of advance in the transition to agricultural economics,
Physical Review E 60, (1999) 5894
18. V. Méndez and J. Fort, Irreversible thermodynamics of Poisson process with reaction, Physical Review E 60,
(1999) 6168
19. V. Méndez, J. Fort and J. Farjas, Speed of wave-fronts solutions to hyperbolic reaction-diffusion equations,
Physical Review E 60, (1999) 5231
20. L. P. Chimento, V. Méndez and N. Zuccalá, Cosmological models arising from generalized scalar field
potentials, Classical and Quantum Gravity 16, (1999) 3749
21. V. Méndez and J. Fort, Dynamical evolution of discrete epidemic models, Physica A 284, 309 (2000)
22. V. Méndez and J. Fort, Speed of reaction-transport processes, Phys. Rev. E, 64, 011105 (2001)
23. J. Fort and V. Méndez, On approximated solutions to the speed of fronts, J. Stat. Phys. 107, 805 (2002)
24. J. Fort and V. Méndez, Time-delayed spread of viruses in growing plaques, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 178101
(2001)
25. J. Fort and V. Méndez, Wavefronts in time-delayed reaction-diffusion systems. Theory and comparison to
experiment, Rep. Progr. Phys. 65, 895 (2001)
26. V. Méndez, T. Pujol and J. Fort, Dispersal probability distributions and the wavefront speed problem, Phys.
Rev. E 65, 041109 (2002)
27. S. Fedotov and V. Méndez, Continuous Time Random Walks and traveling fronts, Phys. Rev. E 66, 030102
(R) (2002)
28. V. Méndez, J. Fort and T. Pujol, Effect of initial conditions on the speed of reaction-diffusion fronts, Phys.
Rev. E 67, 016213 (2003)
29. V. Méndez, J. Fort and T. Pujol, The speed of reaction-diffusion wavefronts in nonsteady media, J. of Physics
A: Math. Gen. 36, 3983 (2003)
30. V. Ortega-Cejas, J. Fort and V. Méndez, Role of the delay time in the modelling of biological range
expansions, Ecology 85, 258 (2004)
31. V. Méndez, J. Fort, H. Rotstein and S. Fedotov, Speed of reaction-diffusion fronts in spatial heterogeneous
media, Phys. Rev. E. 68, 041105 (2003).
32. V. Méndez, D. Campos and J. Fort, Dynamical features of reaction-diffusion fronts in fractals, Phys. Rev. E
69, 016613 (2004)
33. R. D. Benguria, M. C. Depassier and V. Méndez, Minimal speed of fronts of reaction-convection-diffusion
equations, Phys. Rev. E 69, 031106 (2004)
34. V. Ortega-Cejas, J. Fort, V. Méndez and D. Campos, Approximate solution to the speed of spreading viruses,
Phys. Rev. E 69, 031909 (2004)
35. D. Campos, V. Méndez and J. Fort, Description of diffusive and propagative behavior on fractals, Phys. Rev.
E 69, 031115 (2004)
36. T. Pujol, J. Fort and V. Méndez, Consequences of inter-specific competition among multiple adaptative
species in daisyworld, Theor. Appl. Clim. 81, 137 (2005)
37. V. Méndez, D. Campos and J. Fort, Speed of travelling fronts: two-dimensional and ballistic dispersal
probability distributions, Europhys. Lett. 66, 902 (2004)
38. V. Mendez, D. Campos, and S. Fedotov, Front propagation in reaction-dispersal models with finite jump
speed, Phys. Rev. E. 70, 036121 (2004).
39. D. Campos, J. Fort and V. Méndez, Propagation through fractal media: the Sierpinski gasket and the Koch
curve, Europhys. Lett. 68, 769 (2004)
40. V. Mendez, D. Campos, and S. Fedotov, Analysis of fronts in reaction-dispersal processes, Phys. Rev. E. 70,
066129 (2004).
41. D. Campos and V. Méndez, Reaction-diffusion wave fronts in comblike structures, Phys. Rev. E 71, 051104
(2005)
42. V. Méndez and V. Ortega-Cejas, Front propagation in hyperbolic fractional reaction-diffusion equations,
Phys. Rev. E 71, 057105 (2005)
43. D. Campos, J. Fort and V. Méndez, Transport on fractal river networks. Application to migration fronts,
Theor. Popul. Biol. 69, 88 (2005)
44. E. P. Zemskov and V. Méndez, Propagation of fronts in activator-inhibitor systems with cutoff, Eur. Phys. J. B
48, 81 (2005)
45. V. Méndez, D. Campos and E. P. Zemskov, Variational principles and the shift in the front speed due to a
cutoff, Phys. Rev. E 72, 056113 (2005)
46. V. Méndez, V. Ortega-Cejas and D. Campos, Front propagation in population dynamics with dispersive
variability and delayed growth, Physica A 367, 283 (2006)
47. V. Ortega-Cejas, J. Fort and V. Méndez, Time-delayed predator-prey and competition fronts. Theory and
comparison to experimental observations, Physica A 366, 299 (2006)
48. V. Méndez, V. Ortega-Cejas, E. P. Zemskov and J. Casas-Vázquez, Transition from pulled to pushed fronts in
piecewise linear reaction-diffusion systems, Physica A 375, 51 (2007)
49. V. Méndez, V. Ortega-Cejas and J. Casas-Vázquez, Front propagation in reaction-dispersal with anomalous
distributions, Eur. Phys. J. B 53, 503 (2007)
50. E. P. Zemskov and V. Méndez, Speed shift in reaction-diffusion equations with cutoff, Physica A 376, 208
(2006)
51. V. Méndez, S. Fedotov, and W. Horsthemke, Effect of memory on the speed of reaction-diffusion fronts,
Europhys. Lett. 77, 58006 (2007)
52. V. Méndez, S. Fedotov, D. Campos and W. Horsthemke, Biased random walks and propagation failure, Phys.
Rev. E 75, 011118 (2007)
53. V. Méndez, W. Horsthemke, J. Casas-Vázquez and E. P. Zemskov, Variational principles and the effect of a
cutoff on population pattern size, Eur. Phys. J. (Special Topics) 146, 189 (2007)
54.
A. Yadav, S. Fedotov, V. Méndez and W. Horsthemke, Propagating fronts in reaction-transport systems with
memory, Phys. Lett. A 371, 374 (2007)
55. V. Méndez, W. Horsthemke, Evgeny P. Zemskov and J. Casas-Vázquez, Segregation and pursuit waves in
activator-inhibitor systems, Phys. Rev. E 76, 046222 (2007)
56. V. Méndez and D. Campos, Population extinction and survival in a hostile environment, Phys. Rev. E 77,
022901 (2008)
57. D. Campos and V. Méndez, A lattice-model representation of continuous-time random walks, J. Phys. A:
Math. Theor. 41 (2008) 085101
58. D. Campos, J.E. Llebot and V. Méndez. Limited resources and evolutionary learning may help to understand
mistimed reproduction in birds caused by climate change. Theoretical Population Biology 74 (2008) 16–21
59. D. Campos, V. Méndez and V. Ortega-Cejas, Lattice models for invasions through patchy environments. Bull.
Math. Biol 70: 1937–1956
60. D. Campos, V. Méndez and S. Fedotov, The effects of distributed life cycles on the dynamics of viral
infections. Journal of Theoretical Biology 254 (2008) 430– 438
61. D. Campos, S. Fedotov and V. Méndez, Anomalous reaction-transport processes: the dynamics beyond the
Mass Action Law. Phys. Rev. E 77, 061130 (2008)
62.
S. Fedotov and V. Méndez, Non-Markovian model for transport and reactions of particles in spiny dendrites.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 218102 (2008)
63.
D. Campos and V. Méndez, Different microscopic interpretations of the reaction-telegrapher equation. J.
Phys. A: Math. Theor. 42, 075003 (2009)
64. D. Campos and V. Méndez, Superdiffusive-like motion of colloidal nanorods. J. Chem. Phys. 130, 134711
(2009)
65.
V. Méndez, D. Campos and A. W. Sheppard, A model for plant invasions: the role of distributed generation
times. Bull. Math. Biol. 71, 1727-1744 (2009)
66.
V. Méndez, I. Llopis, D. Campos and W. Horsthemke, Extinction and chaotic patterns in map lattices under
hostile conditions. Bull. Math. Biol. 72, 432-443 (2010)
67.
D. Campos and V. Méndez, Nonuniversality and the role of tails in reaction-subdiffusion fronts, Phys. Rev. E
80, 021133 (2009)
68.
D. Campos , V. Méndez, J. E. Llebot and G. A. Hernandez, Analytical model for Minority Games with
volutionary learning. Physica A. 389 (2010) 2397-2407
69. V. Méndez, I. Llopis, D. Campos and W. Horsthemke, Extinction conditions for isolated populations affected
by environmental stochasticity. Theor. Pop. Biol. 77 (2010) 250-256
70. V. Méndez, C. Sans, D. Campos and I. Llopis, Fourier series expansion for nonlinear Hamiltonian oscillators.
Phys. Rev. E 81, 066201 (2010)
71. Y. Boubendir, V. Méndez and H. G. Rotstein, Dynamics of one- and two-dimensional fronts in a bistable
equation with time-delayed global feedback: Propagation failure and control mechanisms. Phys. Rev. E 82,
036601 (2010)
72. D. Campos, V. Méndez and I. Llopis. Persistent Random Motion: Uncovering Cell Migration Patterns. J.
Theor. Biol. 267 (2010) 526–534
73. V. Méndez, D. Campos and I. Gómez-Portillo, Travelling fronts in systems of particles with random velocities.
Phys. Rev. E. 82, 041119 (2010)
74. I. Gómez-Portillo, D Campos and V. Méndez, lntermittent random walks: transport regimes and implications
on search strategies, J. Stat. Mech: Theor and Exp. (In press)
Books
V. Méndez, S. Fedotov and W. Horsthemke, Reaction-Transport Systemns: Mesoscopic foundations, Fronts
and Spatial instabilities. Springer-Verlag (Springer Series in Synergetics. Springer Complexity). 2010.
H- Index
h = 15
(updated 2009-09-07. Source: ISI web of knowledge)