
Assistant Professor
Department of Physics
University of California, San Diego
Serra Group - Nonlinear Dynamics and Mathematical Modeling of complex systems
Mattia Serra

PhD and Postdoc positions available!
EMAIL: mserra{at}ucsd.edu
Imola, 7635.
JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
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Defect-mediated dynamics of coherent structures in active nematics M. Serra, L. Lemma, L. Giomi, Z. Dogic and L. Mahadevan (accepted) Nature Physics (2023) arXiv:2104.02196 [PDF]
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Reconstruction of distinct vertebrate gastrulation modes via modulation of key cell behaviours in the chick embryo Manli Chuai*, Guillermo S. Nájera*, M. Serra, L. Mahadevan and Cornelis J. Weijer Science Advances 9.1 (2023) [PDF]
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Activity-driven extracellular volume expansion drives vertebrate axis elongation
A. Michaut, A. Mongera, A. Gupta, M. Serra, P. Rigoni, J. Lee, A. Hall, F. Duarte, L. Mahadevan, K. Guevorkian, O. Pourquie
(submitted) bioRxiv:2022.06.27.497799 [PDF]
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Optimal Locomotion for Limbless Crawlers
S. Santhosh and M. Serra
PRE 106,024610 (2022) [PDF]
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Detecting Lagrangian coherent structures from sparse and noisy trajectory data
S. Molawi, M. Serra, E. Maiorino and L. Mahadevan
J. Fluid Mech. 948, A4. (2022) [PDF] Python code available here -
Optimal policies for mitigating pandemic costs: a tutorial model
M. Serra*, S. al-Mosleh*, S Ganga Prasath*, V. Raju*, S. Mantena, J. Chandra, S. Iams and L. Mahadevan
Physical Biology, 19 055001 (2022) [PDF] MATLAB code available here -
A mechanochemical model recapitulates distinct vertebrate gastrulation modes M. Serra, Guillermo S. Nájera, Manli Chuai, Vamsi Spandan, Cornelis J. Weijer and L. Mahadevan (submitted) bioRxiv 2021.10.03.462928; [PDF]
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Horizontal transport in oil-spill modeling
R. Duran, T. Nordam, M. Serra and C. Barker
Elsevier, In Marine Hydrocarbon Spill Assessments, pp. 59-96., (2021) [PDF]
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A Measure of Morphodynamics
M. Serra and L. Mahadevan
SIAM News, vol. 54, n. 03, April (2021) [PDF]
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Objective early identification of kinematic instabilities in shear flows B. F. Klose*, M. Serra* and G. B. Jacobs arXiv:2009.05851 [PDF]
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Finite-time Lyapunov exponents in the instantaneous limit and material transport
P. Nolan, M. Serra and S. Ross
Nonlinear Dynamics, 1-28 (2020) [PDF]
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Search and rescue at sea aided by hidden flow structures
M. Serra, P. Sathe, I. Rypina, A. Kirincich, S. Ross, P. Lermusiaux, A. Allen, T. Peacock and G. Haller
Nature Communications, 11 2525 (2020). [PDF] MATLAB code available here
Nature Press highlight, MIT News, ETH News, US NSF News, Scientific American, BBC Science, AMS
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Dynamic morphoskeletons in development
M. Serra, Sebastian Streichan, Manli Chuai, Cornelis J. Weijer and L. Mahadevan
PNAS 117.21 (2020) [PDF] - featured on Harvard SEAS News
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Vortex boundaries as barriers to diffusive vorticity transport in two-dimensional flows
S. Katsanoulis, M. Farazmand, M. Serra and G. Haller
Physical Review Fluids, 5 024701 (2020) [PDF] MATLAB code available here
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The Kinematics of Lagrangian Flow Separation in External Aerodynamics
B. F. Klose, G. B. Jacobs and M. Serra
AIAA Journal, (2020) [PDF]
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Material spike formation in highly unsteady separated flows
M. Serra, Sean Crouzat, Gael Simon, Jérôme Vétel and George Haller
J. Fluid Mech. 883 A30 (2019) [PDF]
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Variational Lagrangian formulation of the Euler equations for incompressible flow: A simple derivation
Mohammad Farazmand and M. Serra
arXiv:1807.02726 (2018) [PDF]
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Exact Theory of Material Spike Formation in Flow Separation
M. Serra, Jérôme Vétel and George Haller
J. Fluid Mech. 845 (2018) 51-92. [PDF]
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Uncovering the Edge of the Polar Vortex
M. Serra, Pratik Sathe, Francisco Beron-Vera and George Haller
J. Atm. Sci. 74 (11) 3871–3885, (2017). [PDF]
Featured on Forbes - (31-01-19)
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Efficient Computation of Null Geodesics with Applications to Coherent Vortex Detection
M. Serra and George Haller
Proc. of the Royal Soc. A (2017) 473 20160807. [PDF] MATLAB code available here
Featured on the journal's cover page
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Forecasting Long-Lived Lagrangian Vortices from their Objective Eulerian Footprints
M. Serra and George Haller
J. Fluid Mech. 813 (2017) 436-457. [PDF]
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Objective Eulerian coherent structures
M. Serra and George Haller
Chaos, 26 (2016) 053110. [PDF] Editor's pick
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Dependent modal space control: Experimental test rig
M. Serra, Francesco Ripamonti and Ferruccio Resta
J. Vibration and Control (2015): 1077546315616699. [PDF]
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Dependent modal space control
M. Serra, Francesco Ripamonti and Ferruccio Resta
Smart Materials and Structures 22.10 (2013): 105004. [PDF]
PREPRINTS (PDF available)
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Zero-time mitigation of oil spills via short-term attractors
R. Duran and M. Serra
CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS
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Lagrangian and Eulerian Coherent Structures in Complex Dynamical Systems
M. Serra and George Haller
ENOC (2017), Budapest, Hungary. [PDF]
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A comparison between the IMSC and the DMSC for vibration suppression of smart flexible structures
M. Serra, Ferruccio Resta, Francesco Ripamonti
Proc. SPIE 8688, Active and Passive Smart Struct. and Integrated Sys., 868823 (2013). [PDF]
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An active control logic based on modal approach for vibration reduction through the eigenstructure assignment
M. Serra, Ferruccio Resta, Francesco Ripamonti
IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics (ICM), (2013). [PDF]