Seminario DAS: "Theoretical challenges in active matter"

Speaker: Dr. Rodrigo Soto
Affiliation:  Departamento de Física,  FCFM, Universidad de Chile

Abstract: How can we describe the collective properties of an ensemble of thousands or millions of interacting motors? How do they differ from the properties of a set of atoms, which we currently understand using the tools of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics? These are not arbitrary questions, but rather correspond to one of the challenges of understanding, from a physics perspective, ensembles formed by animals, cells, bacteria, or even robots that are constantly moving. This is what we call active matter. To this end, using the tools of statistical physics, we have designed theoretical models that we have analyzed using computational, analytical, and even experimental tools. In this talk, I will discuss the progress we have made and the challenges we now face.