Kinetic theory of defect dynamics in active nematics
Invited
Abstract
Active nematics are fluids of elongated active agents that exhibit self-sustained flows and liquid crystalline order. Realizations include suspensions of cytoskeletal filaments and motor proteins, epithelial tissue, and vibrated layers of granular rods. At high activity, active nematics exhibit spatio-temporal chaotic, turbulent-like flows with proliferation of topological defects. In this talk I will show that, focusing on the defects as the relevant quasiparticles driving the non-equilibrium dynamics, we can formulate a kinetic theory of the active defect gas and describe the onset of active turbulence as activity-driven defect unbinding. By coarse-graining the kinetic theory, we obtain a hydrodynamic description of the active defect gas.
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Presenters
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M Cristina Marchetti
Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California, Santa Barbara, Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Physics, UC Santa Barbara, University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Physics, Syracuse University
Authors
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M Cristina Marchetti
Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California, Santa Barbara, Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Physics, UC Santa Barbara, University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Physics, Syracuse University