About

Dr. Scot Brown is a professor of African American Studies and History at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he also serves as the Director of Undergraduate Affairs of African American Studies and History. His scholarly work includes authoring the book Fighting For Us and contributing to numerous articles on African American history, social and political movements, music, and popular culture. He is a contributing author and editor of the book Discourse on Africana Studies, and he is in the process of completing a book project that explores Dayton, Ohio as a 1970s musical hotbed of soul and funk bands. Brown has appeared as an expert commentator on African American music and popular culture for various television, radio, and social media programs, including KLRU, NPR, Sirius/XM Radio, BET/Centric, TV One, and VH1. He has also participated in several documentaries on the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, notably PBS's The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. His research and commentary focus on African American cultural history, social movements, and music, contributing significantly to the academic discourse on Black cultural nationalism, the Black Power era, and the history of Black music and social movements.

Research topics

• Physics
• Condensed matter physics
• Crystallography
• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Quantum mechanics
• Organic chemistry
• Chemical physics
• Thermodynamics
• Nuclear magnetic resonance

Selected publications

• Engineering Ultrafast Molecular Rotors via Chalcogen bonds

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026-04-27

  articleOpen access

  ), in agreement with the packing coefficient and computational analysis. These findings highlight chalcogen bonds as a powerful tool for designing robust, crystalline molecular machines.

  PublisherDOI

• Gas-Phase-like Inertial Rotation of a Platonic Solid in Reticular Amphidynamic Crystals of CUB-5: Molecular Dynamics and Experiment

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025-11-04 · 1 citations

  articleCorresponding

  Amphidynamic crystals are a type of condensed matter that blends two extremes of the dynamic spectrum: rigid components forming a static lattice and rapidly moving parts. Among them, ordered rotor arrays within metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) constitute a promising platform to explore uncharted territories, such as gas phase-like dynamics in the crystalline state. Through quantum mechanical (QM) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations we verified that nearly barrierless cubane rotators in CUB-5 display rotational dynamics that transitions from continuous or inertial at high temperature, to chaotic behavior, and ultimately to discrete jumps, as the temperature decreases from room temperature down to cryogenic conditions. 1H NMR spin–lattice (T1) relaxation measurements corroborate our theoretical predictions, with experimental rotational activation energy of 0.17 kcal/mol and an attempt frequency of 1.03 × 1012 s–1 that compare well with calculated values of 0.15 kcal/mol and 0.38 × 1012 s–1, respectively.

  PublisherDOI

• Order-parameter evolution in the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov phase

  Physical review. B./Physical review. B · 2024-01-22 · 4 citations

  article

  We report on the temperature dependence of the spatially modulated spin-polarization amplitude $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}{K}_{\text{spin}}$, which is a hallmark of the superconducting Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state. For that, we use $^{13}\mathrm{C}$ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy performed on the organic conductor ${\ensuremath{\beta}}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{(\mathrm{ET})}_{2}{\mathrm{SF}}_{5}{\mathrm{CH}}_{2}{\mathrm{CF}}_{2}{\mathrm{SO}}_{3}$. From a comparison of our experimental results to a comprehensive modeling of the $^{13}\mathrm{C}$ NMR spectra, we determine the evolution of $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}{K}_{\text{spin}}$ upon condensation of the FFLO state. Further, the modeling of the spectra in the superconducting phase allows to quantify the decrease of the average spin susceptibility, stemming from the spin-singlet coupling of the superconducting electron pairs in the FFLO state of ${\ensuremath{\beta}}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{(\mathrm{ET})}_{2}{\mathrm{SF}}_{5}{\mathrm{CH}}_{2}{\mathrm{CF}}_{2}{\mathrm{SO}}_{3}$.

  PublisherDOI

• Upper critical field of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>Sr</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub><mml:msub><mml:mi>RuO</mml:mi><mml:mn>4</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> under in-plane uniaxial pressure

  Physical review. B./Physical review. B · 2023-02-22 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  In-plane uniaxial pressure has been shown to strongly tune the superconducting state of ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{2}{\mathrm{RuO}}_{4}$ by approaching a Lifshitz transition and associated Van Hove singularity (VHS) in the density of states. At the VHS, ${T}_{\text{c}}$ and the in- and out-of-plane upper critical fields are all strongly enhanced, and the latter has changed its curvature as a function of temperature from convex to concave. However, due to strain inhomogeneity it has not been possible so far to determine how the upper critical fields change with strain. Here, we show the strain dependence of both upper critical fields, which was achieved due to an improved sample preparation. We find that the in-plane upper critical field is mostly linear in ${T}_{\text{c}}$. On the other hand, the out-of-plane upper critical field varies with a higher power in ${T}_{\text{c}}$, and peaks strongly at the VHS. The strong increase in magnitude and the change in form of ${H}_{\mathrm{c}2||\mathrm{c}}$ occur very close to the Van Hove strain, and point to a strong enhancement of both the density of states and the gap magnitude at the Lifshitz transition.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Multi-Center Magnon Excitations Open the Entire Brillouin Zone to Terahertz Magnetometry of Quantum Magnets

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2022-03-08

  preprintOpen access

  Due to the small photon momentum, optical spectroscopy commonly probes magnetic excitations only at the center of the Brillouin zone; however, there are ways to override this restriction. In the case of the distorted kagome quantum magnet Y-kapellasite, Y$_3$Cu$_9$(OH)$_{19}$Cl$_8$, under scrutiny here, the magnon density of states can be accessed over the entire Brillouin zone through three-center magnon excitations. This mechanism is aided by the three different magnetic sublattices and strong short-range correlations in the distorted kagome lattice. The results of THz time-domain experiments agree remarkably well with linear spin-wave theory. Relaxing the conventional zone-center constraint of photons gives a new aspect to probe magnetism in matter.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Tuning the Fermi liquid crossover in Sr2RuO4 with uniaxial stress

  npj Quantum Materials · 2022-12-02 · 10 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract We perform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of the oxygen-17 Knight shifts for Sr 2 RuO 4 , while subjected to uniaxial stress applied along [100] direction. The resulting strain is associated with a strong variation of the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the inferred magnetic response. A quasiparticle description based on density-functional theory calculations, supplemented by many-body renormalizations, is found to reproduce our experimental results, and highlights the key role of a van-Hove singularity. The Fermi-liquid coherence scale is shown to be tunable by strain, and driven to low values as the associated Lifshitz transition is approached.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Application of Power Electronics and Control for Dual Battery Packs Management with Voltage Balancing and State of Charge Estimation

  Energy and Power Engineering · 2022-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Energy storage, such as lead acid batteries, is necessary for renewable energy sources’ autonomy because of their intermittent nature, which makes them more frequently used than traditional energy sources to reduce operating costs. The battery storage system has to be monitored and managed to prevent serious problems such as battery overcharging, over-discharging, overheating, battery unbalancing, thermal runaway, and fire dangers. For voltage balancing between batteries in the pack throughout the charging period and the SOC estimate, a modified lossless switching mechanism is used in this research’s suggested battery management system. The OCV state of charge calculation, in the beginning, was used in conjunction with the coulomb counting approach to estimate the SOC. The results reveal that correlation factor K has an average value of 0.3 volts when VM ≥ 12 V and an average value of 0.825 when VM ≤ 12 V. The battery monitoring system revealed that voltage balancing was accomplished during the charging process in park one after 80 seconds with a SOC difference of 1.4% between Batteries 1 and 2. On the other hand, the system estimates the state of charge during the discharging process in two packs, with a maximum DOD of 10.8 V for all batteries. The project’s objectives were met since the BMS estimated SOC and achieved voltage balance.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Upper Critical Field of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ under In-Plane Uniaxial Pressure

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2022-11-08

  preprintOpen access

  In-plane uniaxial pressure has been shown to strongly tune the superconducting state of Sr2RuO4 by approaching a Lifshitz transition and associated Van Hove singularity (VHS) in the density of states. At the VHS, $T_c$ and the in- and out-of-plane upper critical fields are all strongly enhanced, and the latter has changed its curvature as a function of temperature from convex to concave. However, due to strain inhomogeneity it has not been possible so far to determine how the upper critical fields change with strain. Here, we show the strain dependence of both upper critical fields, which was achieved due to an improved sample preparation. We find that the in-plane upper critical field is mostly linear in $T_c$. On the other hand, the out-of-plane upper critical field varies with a higher power in $T_c$, and peaks strongly at the VHS. The strong increase in magnitude and the change in form of $H_\mathrm{c2||c}$ occur very close to the Van Hove strain, and points to a strong enhancement of both the density of states and the gap magnitude at the Lifshitz transition.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Multi‐Center Magnon Excitations Open the Entire Brillouin Zone to Terahertz Magnetometry of Quantum Magnets

  Advanced Quantum Technologies · 2022-03-25 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Due to the small photon momentum, optical spectroscopy commonly probes magnetic excitations only at the center of the Brillouin zone; however, there are ways to override this restriction. In case of the distorted kagome quantum magnet Y‐kapellasite, Y 3 Cu 9 (OH) 19 Cl 8 , under scrutiny here, the spin (magnon) density of states (SDOS) can be accessed over the entire Brillouin zone through three‐center magnon excitations. This mechanism is aided by the three different magnetic sublattices and strong short‐range correlations in the distorted kagome lattice. The results of THz time‐domain experiments agree remarkably well with linear spin‐wave theory (LSWT). Relaxing the conventional zone‐center constraint of photons gives a new aspect to probe magnetism in matter.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Tuning the Fermi Liquid Crossover in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ with Uniaxial Stress

  HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · 2021-11-10

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  We perform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of the oxygen-17 Knight shifts for Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, while subjected to uniaxial stress applied along [100] direction. The resulting strain is associated with a strong variation of the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the inferred magnetic response. A quasi-particle description based on density-functional theory calculations, supplemented by many-body renormalizations, is found to reproduce our experimental results, and highlights the key role of a van-Hove singularity. The Fermi liquid coherence scale is shown to be tunable by strain, and driven to low values as the associated Lifshitz transition is approached.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NMR Studies of Pressure-Tuned Correlated Electron Systems

  NSF · $344k · 2005–2009

• NMR studies of quantum matter under stressed conditions

  NSF · $592k · 2020–2024

• Controlled variations of quantum phases observed by NMR

  NSF · $484k · 2017–2021

• NMR Studies of Organic and Inorganic Frustrated Quantum Magnets

  NSF · $536k · 2014–2017

• NMR Studies of Field-Induced Phases and Phase Transitions

  NSF · $376k · 2008–2012

Frequent coauthors

• Shawkat M. Toorawa

  324 shared

• Julia Bray

  University of Cambridge

  324 shared

• Joseph Lowry

  324 shared

• James E. Montgomery

  Covenant Medical Center

  324 shared

• Devin J. Stewart

  Emory University

  324 shared

• Chip Rossetti

  Yale University

  226 shared

• Philip Kennedy

  Neural Signals (United States)

  177 shared

• Tahera Qutbuddin

  Carleton University

  162 shared

Awards & honors

• Prize for the 1995 Winners of the Association for the Study…