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DTSTAMP:20261027T202700Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20161128T184015Z
DTSTART:20161202T170000Z
DTEND:20161202T180000Z
UID:event1649@bu.edu
URL:http://physics.bu.edu/internal/events/show/1649
SUMMARY:Spontaneous flows in soft active matter
DESCRIPTION:Featuring Zvonimir Dogic\, Brandeis\nHosted by: Pankaj Mehta\n\
	nPart of the Biophysics/Condensed Matter Seminar Series.\n\nThe laws of equ
	ilibrium statistical mechanics impose severe constraints on the properties 
	of conventional materials assembled from inanimate building blocks. Consequ
	ently\, such materials cannot exhibit autonomous motion or perform macrosco
	pic work. Inspired by the remarkable properties of the biological cytoskele
	ton which is driven away from equilibrium by a conserved set of protein nan
	omachines\, our goal is to develop soft active materials assembled from the
	 bottom-up\, using animate energy-consuming building blocks such as molecul
	ar motors and microtubule filaments. Released from the constraints of the e
	quilibrium\, these internally driven gels\, liquid crystals and emulsions a
	re able to change-shape\, crawl\, flow\, swim\, and exert forces on their b
	oundaries to produce macroscopic work. In particular\, we describe properti
	es of an active isotropic fluid that upon confinement\, transitions from a 
	quiescent to a spontaneously flowing state. We characterize the properties 
	of the emergent self-organized flows as well as how the transition to a flo
	wing state depends on the properties of the confining geometry. We also des
	cribe the unique dynamics of active nematic liquid crystals\, which exhibit
	s complex streaming flows that are powered by continuous creation and annih
	ilation of oppositely charged disclination defects. Our results illustrate 
	how active matter can serve as a platform for testing theoretical models of
	 non-equilibrium statistical mechanics\, developing a new class of soft mac
	hines and potentially even shedding light on self-organization processes oc
	curring in living cells.
LOCATION:SCI 352\, 590 Commonwealth Avenue\, 02215
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CLASS:PUBLIC
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