Publications

Group members at the time the work was conducted are marked in bold.

Accepted

  1. Y. Wang and C. Y. Lai, “DIFFICE-jax: Differentiable neural-network solver for data assimilation of ice shelves in JAX,” J. Open Source Softw., 10, 7254 (2025). doi.org/10.21105/joss.07254

  2. Y. Wang, C. Y. Lai, D. Prior, C. Cowen-Breen, “Deep learning the flow law of Antarctic ice shelves,” Science, 387, 1219-1224 (2025). doi.org/10.1126/science.adp3300

  3. C. Y. Lai, P. Hassanzadeh, A. Sheshadri, M. Sonnewald, R. Ferrari, V. Balaji, “Machine learning for climate physics and simulations” invited review article, Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys., 16, 343–365 (2025). doi.org/10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-043024-114758

Under preparation or review

  1. B. M. Alessio, M. R. Edwards, C. Y. Lai, “Dense granular rheology from fluctuations,” doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2601.01907

  2. Y. Wang, M. Bennani, J. Martens, S. Racanière, S. Blackwell, A. Matthews, S. Nikolov, G. Cao-Labora, D. S. Park, M. Arjovsky, D. Worrall, C. Qin, F. Alet, B. Kozlovskii, N. Tomašev, A. Davies, P. Kohli, T. Buckmaster, B. Georgiev, J. Gómez-Serrano, R. Jiang, C. Y. Lai, “Discovery of unstable singularities,” doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2509.14185

  3. Y. Wang, T. Léger, C. Y. Lai, T. Buckmaster, “Resolving sharp gradients of unstable singularities to machine precision via neural networks,” doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2511.22819

  4. D. L. Chase, C. Y. Lai, H. A. Stone, “Viscous peeling at a permeable interface”

  5. R. Culberg, C. Y. Lai, E. MacKie, Ian McDowell, Ellen Mutter, “von Mises stress a robust predictor of ice slab fracture in Greenland”

  6. J. Rines, C. Y. Lai, Y. Wang, “Gravity-driven viscous flow over partially lubricated bed”

  7. A. Bradley, C. Y. Lai, N. B. Coffey, “Timescales of Antarctic ice shelf collapse via crevassing”

  8. J. Ng, Y. Wang, C. Y. Lai, “Spectrum-informed multistage neural network: Multiscale function approximator of machine precision,” doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2407.17213

Published

  1. K. Nissanka, N. Vora, J. M. Harper, J. C. Burton, J. M. Amundson, A. A. Robel, Y. Meng, C. Y. Lai, “Laboratory experiments reveal transient fluctuations in ice mélange velocity and stress during periods of quasistatic flow,” J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf., 130, e2024JF008071 (2025). doi.org/10.1029/2024JF008071

  2. N. B. Coffey and C. Y. Lai, “Horizontal force balance calving laws: Ice shelves, marine- and land-terminating glaciers,” J. Glaciol., 71, 1-23 (2025). doi.org/10.1017/jog.2025.10068

  3. A. Hoffman, K. Christianson, C. Y. Lai, I. Joughin, N. Holschuh, E. Case, J. Kingslake, and the GHOST science team, “Inland migration of near-surface crevasses in the Amundsen Sea Sector, West Antarctica,” The Cryosphere, 19, 1353–1372, (2025). doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1353-2025

  4. Y. Meng, C. Y. Lai, R. Culberg, M. Shahin, L. Stearns, J. Burton, K. Nissanka, “Seasonal changes of mélange thickness coincide with Greenland calving dynamics,” Nature Communications, 16, 1-16 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55241-7

  5. N. B. Coffey, C. Y. Lai, Y. Wang, W. R. Buck, T. Surawy-Stepney, A. E. Hogg, “Theoretical stability of ice shelf basal crevasses with a vertical temperature profile,” J. Glaciol., 70, 1-22 (2024). doi.org/10.1017/jog.2024.52

  6. N. C. Shibley, C. Y. Lai, R. Culberg, “How to infer ocean freezing rates on icy satellites from measurements of ice thickness,” Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 535, 290–298 (2024). doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae2304

  7. C. Cowen-Breen, Y. Wang, S. Bates, C. Y. Lai, “Euler operators for mis-specified physics-informed neural networks,” ICML AI for Science Workshop (2024). openreview.net/pdf?id=kkGR5fNq2J

  8. A. Voigtländer, M. Houssais, K. A. Bacik, I. C. Bourg, J. C. Burton, K. E. Daniels, S. S. Datta, E. Del Gado, N. S. Deshpande, O. Devauchelle, B. Ferdowsi, R. Glade, L. Goehring, I. J. Hewitt, D. Jerolmack, R. Juanes, A. Kudrolli, C. Y. Lai, W. Li, C. Masteller, K. Nissanka, A. M. Rubin, H. A. Stone, J. Suckale, N. M. Vriend, J. S. Wettlaufer, J. Q. Yang, “Soft matter physics of the ground beneath our feet,” Soft Matter, 20, 5859-5888 (2024). doi.org/10.1039/D4SM00391H

  9. Y. Meng*, R. Culberg*, C. Y. Lai, “Vulnerability of firn to hydrofracture: Poromechanics modeling,” J. Glaciol., 1–14 (2024). doi.org/10.1017/jog.2024.47
    *Equally Contributed

  10. L. A. Stevens, S. B. Das, M. D. Behn, J. J. McGuire, C. Y. Lai, I. Joughin, S. Larochelle, M. Nettles, “Elastic stress coupling between supraglacial lakes,” J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf., 129, e2023JF007481 (2024). doi.org/10.1029/2023JF007481

  11. Y. Wang and C. Y. Lai, “Multi-stage neural networks: Function approximator of machine precision,” J. Comput. Phys., 504, 112865 (2024). doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2024.112865

  12. R. Eusebi, G. A. Vecchi, C. Y. Lai, M. Tong, “Realistic tropical cyclone wind and pressure fields can be reconstructed from sparse data using deep learning,” Commun. Earth Environ., 5, 8 (2024). doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01144-2

  13. Y. Iwasaki and C. Y. Lai, “1D ice shelf hardness inversion: Clustering behavior and collocation resampling in physics-informed neural networks,” J. Comput. Phys., 492, 112435 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.jcp.2023.112435

  14. Y. Wang, C. Y. Lai, J. Gomez-Serrano, T. Buckmaster, “Asymptotic self-similar blow-up profile for three-dimensional axisymmetric Euler equations using neural networks," Phys. Rev. Lett., 130, 244002 (2023). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.244002

  15. J. Lockwood, N. Lin, M. Oppenheimer, C. Y. Lai, “Using neural networks to predict hurricane storm surge and to assess the sensitivity of surge to storm characteristics," J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres, 127, e2022JD037617 (2022). doi:10.1029/2022JD037617

  16. N. Coffey, D. R. MacAyeal, L. Copland, D. Mueller, O. V. Sergienko, A. F. Banwell, C. Y. Lai, “Enigmatic surface rolls of the Ellesmere Ice Shelf,” J. Glaciol., 1–12 (2022). doi:10.1017/jog.2022.3

  17. D. L. Chase, C. Y. Lai, H. A. Stone, “Relaxation of a fluid-filled blister on a porous substrate,” Phys. Rev. Fluids, 6, 084101 (2021). doi:10.1103/PhysRevFluids.6.084101 (Editors’ Suggestion)

  18. [PDF] C. Y. Lai, L. A. Stevens, D. L. Chase, T. T. Creyts, M. D. Behn, S. B. Das, H. A. Stone, “Hydraulic transmissivity inferred from ice-sheet relaxation following Greenland supraglacial lake drainages," Nature Communications, 12, 3955 (2021). doi:10.1038/s41467-021-24186-6

  19. [PDF] W. R. Buck and C. Y. Lai, “Flexural control of basal crevasse opening under ice shelves," Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2021GL093110 (2021). doi: 10.1029/2021GL093110

  20. S. Shim, S. Khodaparast, C. Y. Lai, J. Yan, J. T. Ault, B. Rallabandi, O. Shardt, H. A. Stone, “CO2-driven diffusiophoresis for maintaining a bacteria-free surface," Soft matter, 17, 2568–2576 (2021). doi:10.1039/D0SM02023K

  21. [PDF] C. Y. Lai, J. Kingslake, M. Wearing, P.-H. Cameron Chen, P. Gentine, H. Li, J. Spergel, J. M. van Wessem, “Vulnerability of Antarctica’s ice shelves to meltwater-driven fracture," Nature, 584, 574–578 (2020). doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2627-8  

  22. [PDF] C. Y. Lai, J. Eggers, and L. Deike, “Bubble bursting: universal cavity and jet profiles," Phys. Rev. Lett., 121, 144501 (2018). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.144501

  23. [PDF] C. Y. Lai, B. Rallabandi, A. Perazzo, Z. Zheng, S. Smiddy, and H. A. Stone “Foam-driven fracture," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 201808068 (2018). doi: 10.1073/pnas.1808068115

  24. [PDF] H. S. Rabbani, D. Or, Y. Liu, C. Y. Lai, N. Lu, S. S. Datta, H. A. Stone, and N. Shokri, “Suppressing viscous fingering in structured porous media,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 201800729 (2018). doi: 10.1073/pnas.1800729115

  25. [PDF] C. Y. Lai, Z. Zheng, E. Dressaire, G. Ramon, H. E. Huppert, H. A. Stone, “Elastic relaxation of fluid-driven cracks and the resulting backflow," Phys. Rev. Lett., 117, 268001 (2016). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.268001

  26. [PDF] C. Y. Lai, Z. Zheng, E. Dressaire, H. A. Stone, “Fluid-driven crack in an elastic matrix in the toughness-dominated limit," Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A, 374, 20150425 (2016). doi: 10.1098/rsta.2015.0425  

  27. [PDF] C. Y. Lai, Z. Zheng, E. Dressaire, J. Wexler, H. A. Stone, “Experimental study on penny-shaped fluid-driven cracks in an elastic matrix," Proc. R. Soc. A, 471, 20150255 (2015). doi: 10.1098/rspa.2015.0255

  28. [PDF] J. C. Tsai, C. Y. Tao, Y. C. Sun, C. Y. Lai, K. H. Huang, W. T. Juan, and J. R. Huang, “Vortex-induced morphology on a two-fluid interface and the transitions," Phys. Rev. E, 92, 031002(R) (2015). doi: 10.1103/Phys-RevE.92.031002

Policy-related

  1. [PDF] G. Davies*, R. Edwards*, C. Y. Lai*, B. Perry*, and K. Spokas*, “Institutional Emissions and Energy Planning: Understanding the interactions between carbon accounting, institutional goal setting, and energy procurement," published by the Princeton Environmental Institute at Princeton University (2019).

*Equally Contributed