#CahnHilliard

#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

Hello! As I'm new both to #Mastodon and to the #QOTO instance, I'd like to make my #introductions here.

I'm Dom, a postgraduate researcher studying #CondensedMatter, in particular #SoftMatter, #ActiveMatter, #MolecularBiology, #CellBiology, #PhaseTransitions, and #ComplexSystems using the tools of #TheoreticalPhysics, #BioPhysics, #StatisticalPhysics, #FluidDynamics, #ComputationalPhysics, and #Simulation.

I'm working on a few projects at the moment. One addresses #universality in active #turbulence with #spectral techniques. Another predicts a new microphase separation regime in inhomogeneous active #nematics by simulating the coupled #CahnHilliard, #NavierStokes, and #BerisEdwards equations. In another project I'm developing a #FieldTheory of the #orderphobic effect, a nonspecific interaction between #transmembrane bodies anchored in a #lipid #bilayer.

I'm also interested in...
#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