Conferenciant: Pasquale Digregorio, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro.

Resum: Active materials are systems of many units where single constituents can convert external energy into mechanical work. Inspired to the behaviour of living agents, numerous theoretical models of active matter have been developed, where a steady energy input at the microscopic level breaks detailed balance and drives the system out of thermal equilibrium, in the absence of external driving. Unbound from equilibrium, active matter displays a large variety of emergent collective behaviours.

I will introduce two different models of active materials, designed in two different theoretical frameworks, that develop diverse collective motion. The first one is a particle based model of self-propelled particles, undergoing Motility-Induced Phase Separation. The second is a fluid dynamics model of nematic liquid crystals with local active stress, which shows chaotic flows at small Reynolds numbers. ,