报告题目：The many surprises of active matter

报告人：Julien Tailleur, associate professor, MIT Physics

报告时间：2024年4月19日 10:00-11:00

报告地点：物理科技楼101

报告邀请人：赵永峰

报告摘要：Active matter describes systems in which individual units dissipate energy to exert forces on their environment. Abundant in the biological world, active systems can also be engineered in the lab where they take the form of self-propelling droplets, particles and grains. The disconnection between dissipation and injection of energy at the microscopic scale drives these systems strongly out of thermal equilibrium. This leads to a phenomenology markedly different from that of equilibrium systems, such as the emergence of dense phases of matter in the absence of cohesive forces. In this colloquium, I will review recent theoretical developments in the study of active-matter systems, from the discovery of their anomalous mechanical properties to the characterization of their rich many-body physics.

References:

[1] J. O'Byrne, Y. Kafri, J. Tailleur, F. van Wijland, Time-irreversibility in active matter, from micro to macro, Nature Review Physics 4, 167-183 (2022)

[2] A. I. Curatolo, N. Zhou, Y. Zhao, C. Liu, A. Daerr, J. Tailleur, J.-D. Huang, Cooperative pattern formation in multi-component bacterial systems through reciprocal motility regulation, Nature Physics 16, 1152-1157 (2020)

[3] R. Zakine, Y. Zhao, M. Knezevic, A. Daerr, Y. Kafri, J. Tailleur, F. van Wijland, Surface Tensions between Active Fluids and Solid Interfaces: Bare vs Dressed, Physical Review Letters 124, 248003 (2020)

[4] A. P. Solon, Y. Fily, A. Baskaran, M. E. Cates, Y. Kafri, M. Kardar, J. Tailleur, Pressure is not a state function for generic active fluids, Nature Physics 11, 673-678 (2015)

[5] M.E. Cates, J. Tailleur, Motility-Induced Phase Separation, Ann. Review Cond. Matt. Phys. 6, 219-244 (2015)

报告人简介：Julien Tailleur is associate professor at the MIT Physics Department. His research focuses on the emerging properties of active materials, which encompass systems made of large assemblies of units able to exert propelling forces on their environment. From molecular motors to cells and animal groups, active systems are found at all scales in nature. Over the past two decades, chemists and physicists have also been able to engineer synthetic active systems by motorizing microscopic inert particles, hence paving the way towards new classes of smart materials.
 Tailleur develops new theoretical methods in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics to predict the emerging behaviors of active systems starting from their microscopic descriptions. In particular, Tailleur is well-known for having discovered the motility-induced phase transition, through which condensed active matter may emerge in the absence of attractive interactions. He has also made important contributions to the physics of collective motion as well as to the characterization of the anomalous mechanical properties of active systems.