Statistical Physics and High-Performance Simulations of Soft Matter Systems

• Grant number: 24/23876-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics
• Principal Investigator: Nathan Jacob Berkovits
• Grantee: William Gabriel Carreras Oropesa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/14335-0 - ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research: a regional center for Theoretical Physics, AP.ESP

Abstract

Active disordered elastic systems constitute a new and attractive research field, modeled by non-trivial dynamic interactions that often lead to complex and fascinating phenomena. In our research project, we will incorporate degrees of freedom associated with self-propulsion in elastic materials to explore the interplay between activity and elasticity in these systems. Our results will allow us to interpret how fibroblasts, certain cells in connective tissues, affect the mechanical behavior of fibrous networks in extracellular matrices, such as those present in cartilage. In collaboration with several theoretical and experimental research groups, we will elucidate the role played by self-propulsion in the mechanisms of rigidity loss of disordered elastic systems, as well as interpret and design experimental protocols. Furthermore, we will incorporate spatial and temporal correlations in physical learning approaches to develop smart metamaterials capable of dynamically adapting to perform specific functions, thus expanding the range of possibilities for designing responsive and multifunctional materials. Another goal of our project is to describe the anomalous dynamic behavior of active Brownian particles embedded in anisotropic media, characterized by complex microstructures, such as focal conics and dislocations, present in smectic liquid crystals. This description, based on high-performance computational simulations, will be used to investigate anomalous regimes that have not been explored in nonequilibrium statistical physics. (AU)