Speaker
Description
Complex fluids encompass a wide range of biological and synthetic systems, such as dense suspensions of bacteria, cytoskeletal extracts, microtubule bundles, and colloidal dispersions. These systems often exhibit unique behaviors and dynamical phase transitions due to their inherently out-of-equilibrium nature. Understanding the underlying mechanisms governing these transitions is essential for advancing our knowledge of these systems and uncovering potential applications in biophysics, materials science, and other interdisciplinary fields.
Combining hydrodynamic and statistical mechanics modeling with high-performance computing techniques, we seek to gain insights into the rich phenomenology displayed by these systems.
More specifically, we will present phase field theories of complex and active fluids, targeting three key use cases: topological phase transitions in cholesteric shells confined within other shells, self-propulsion of active droplets in three dimensions (3D), and the emergence of active turbulence in both two-dimensional (2D) and 3D systems. The order parameters dynamical equations are solved employing the lattice Boltzmann method parallelized with MPI standard to exploit HPC facilities and reach the relevant length and time scales of these systems.
Finally, we will present non-equilibrium statistical models for self-propelled particles and DNA transcription, examine non-equilibrium phase transitions in active Brownian particles, and present polymer models for studying transcription dynamics in human chromosomes. Molecular dynamics simulations underpin these investigations, providing detailed insights into the biophysical mechanisms governing the dynamics of these systems.
