Speaker
Giovanni Volpe
(Gothenburg University)
Description
After a brief introduction of active particles, I’ll present
some recent advances on the study of active particles in
complex and crowded environments.
First, I’ll show that active particles can work as
microswimmers and microengines powered by critical
fluctuations and controlled by light.
Then, I’ll discuss some examples of behavior of active
particles in crowded environments: a few active particles
alter the overall dynamics of a system; active particles
create metastable clusters and channels; active matter leads
to non-Boltzmann distributions and alternative
non-equilibrium relations; and active colloidal molecules
can be created and controlled by light.
Finally, I’ll present some examples of the behavior of
active particles in complex environments: active particles
often perform 2D active Brownian motion; active particles at
liquid-liquid interfaces behave as active interstitials or
as active atoms; and the environment alters the optimal
search strategy for active particles in complex topologies.
