Hydrodynamics and Topological Defects in 'Living Liquid Crystals

Active matter is a distinct category of nonequilibrium matter where energy injected at the scale of microscopic constituents is converted into organized motion and function at the macroscopic scale. Examples are bacterial suspensions, epithelial cell layers, the cytoskeleton of living cells, and self-propelled colloids. In this talk I will describe a few examples of active systems and show how they can be modeled theoretically as "living liquid crystals", with the goal of highlighting a unified view of their large-scale collective behavior. Motivated by recent experiments, I will specifically discuss pattern formation in active nematics and the unusual dynamics of topological defects in these systems.

Speaker: Cristina Marchetti, Syracuse Univ.

Room 300