#SoftMatter have just published the [results](https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM01188C) of a project that Renato Assante, Davide Marenduzzo, Alexander Morozov, and I recently worked on together! What did we do and what's new? Briefly...
#Microswimmer suspensions behave in a similar way to fluids containing kinesin and microtubules. Both systems can be described by the same system of three coupled nonlinear #PDEs.
A #LinearStabilityAnalysis of these equations suggests that variations in concentration across the system don't significantly affect emergent #phaseBehaviour. How then can we explain #experiments that show visible inhomogeneities in #microtubule–#kinesin mixtures, for instance?
With increasing activity, we move away from the quiescent regime, past the onset of #SpontaneousFlow, and deeper into the active phase, where #nonlinearities become more important. What role do concentration inhomogeneities play here?
We investigated these questions, taking advantage of the #openSource #Dedalus #spectral framework to simulate the full nonlinear time evolution. This led us to **predict a #novel regime of #spontaneous #microphaseSeparation into active (nematically ordered) and passive domains**.
Active flow arrests macrophase separation in this regime, counteracting domain coarsening due to thermodynamic coupling between active matter concentration and #nematic order. As a result, domains reach a characteristic size that decreases with increasing activity.
This regime is one part of the #PhaseDiagram we mapped out. Along with our other findings, you can read all about it [here](https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM01188C)!
low #ReynoldsNumber #turbulence #ActiveTurbulence #CahnHilliard #ActiveMatter #NavierStokes #BerisEdwards #CondensedMatter #PhaseTransitions #TheoreticalPhysics #BioPhysics #StatisticalPhysics #FluidDynamics #ComputationalPhysics #Simulation #FieldTheory #paperthread #NewPaper #science #research #ActiveGel #activeNematic #analytic #cytoskeleton #hydrodynamics #MPI #theory
#SoftMatter have just published the [results](https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM01188C) of a project that Renato Assante, Davide Marenduzzo, Alexander Morozov, and I recently worked on together! What did we do and what's new? Briefly...
The #hydrodynamic behaviour of inhomogeneous #activeNematic gels (such as extensile bundles of #cytoskeletal filaments or suspensions of low #ReynoldsNumber swimmers) can be described by the time evolution of three coupled #PDEs.
Standard #ActiveGel #theory concludes, from a #LinearStabilityAnalysis of these equations, that fluctuations in concentration don't significantly affect emergent #phaseBehaviour. However, this leaves #experimental #observations of visible inhomogeneities in #microtubule–#kinesin mixtures unexplained. As we move away from the passive (quiescent) regime, past the onset of #SpontaneousFlow, and deeper into the active phase, #nonlinearities become more important. What role do concentration inhomogeneities play here?
Alongside #analytic techniques, we used an in-house #MPI-parallel code developed within the #Dedalus #spectral framework to investigate. We predict a #novel regime of #spontaneous #microphaseSeparation into active (nematically ordered) and passive domains. In this regime, active flow arrests macrophase separation, which is itself driven by the thermodynamic coupling between active matter concentration and #nematic order. As a result, domains do not #coarsen past a typical size, which decreases with increasing activity. This regime is one part of the #PhaseDiagram we mapped out.
Along with our other findings, you can read all about it [here](https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM01188C)!
#CahnHilliard #ActiveMatter #NavierStokes #BerisEdwards #CondensedMatter #PhaseTransitions #TheoreticalPhysics #BioPhysics #StatisticalPhysics #FluidDynamics #ComputationalPhysics #Simulation #FieldTheory #paperthread #NewPaper #science #research
Postgraduate researcher studying #CondensedMatter, in particular #SoftMatter, #ActiveMatter, #MolecularBiology, #CellBiology, #PhaseTransitions, and #ComplexSystems using the tools of #TheoreticalPhysics, #BioPhysics, #StatisticalPhysics, #FluidDynamics, #ComputationalPhysics, and #Simulation.
For instance, one of the projects I'm working on at the moment addresses #universality in active #turbulence with #spectral techniques. A related project predicts a new microphase separation regime in inhomogeneous active #nematics by simulating the coupled #CahnHilliard, #NavierStokes, and #BerisEdwards equations. Another project develops a #FieldTheory of the #orderphobic effect, a nonspecific interaction between #transmembrane bodies anchored in a #lipid #bilayer.
My other interests include #cycling, #ArchLinux, #Linux, #LibreSoftware, learning #Korean, #yoga, #calisthenics, #singing, #autonomy, #Cooperatives, #DeliberativeDemocracy, #CitizensAssemblies, #ParticipatoryDemocracy, #DemocraticInnovation, #OpenDemocracy, #LibertarianSocialism, #RightToRepair, #democracy, #humanism, #rationalism, #OpenScience, #science, #CommunityEmpowerment, #community, #commons, #research, #wikis, #governance.