Related papers: Equilibrium mechanisms of self-limiting assembly
We discuss the equilibrium of a single collective variable characterizing a finite set of coupled, noisy, bistable systems as the noise strength, the size and the coupling parameter are varied. We identify distinct regions in parameter…
By generalizing a class of models recently introduced to account for protracted transients in biological systems, we identify a novel mechanism for hyperuniformity. In this model, competition of particles over a shared resource guides the…
Self-organization is the spontaneous formation of spatial, temporal, or spatiotemporal patterns in complex systems far from equilibrium. During such self-organization, energy distributed in a broadband of frequencies gets condensed into a…
A binary mixture of particles interacting with spherically-symmetric potentials leading to microsegregation is studied by theory and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We consider spherical particles with equal diameters and volume…
We use neuroevolutionary learning to identify time-dependent protocols for low-dissipation self-assembly in a model of generic active particles with interactions. When the time allotted for assembly is sufficiently long, low-dissipation…
Modeling the spontaneous evolution of morphology in natural systems and its preservation by proportionate growth remains a major scientific challenge. Yet, it is conceivable that if the basic mechanisms of growth and the coupled kinetic…
In the age of artificial intelligence and biotechnology, a unified understanding of technology and biology is critically needed but still lacking. A cornerstone of such unification is evolvable design. I present a formalism, called goal…
Block copolymer self-assembly is a fundamental process in which incompatible blocks spontaneously form organized microstructures with broad practical applications. Classical understanding is that the domain spacing is limited by the contour…
Molecular self-assembly on surfaces constitutes a powerful method for creating tailor-made surface structures with dedicated functionalities. Varying the intermolecular interactions allows for tuning the resulting molecular structures in a…
Flocculation is the process whereby particles (i.e., flocs) in suspension reversibly combine and separate. The process is widespread in soft matter and aerosol physics as well as environmental science and engineering. We consider a general…
Mechanisms of locomotion in microscopic systems are of great interest not only for technological applications, but also for the sake of understanding, and potentially harnessing, processes far from thermal equilibrium. Down-scaling is a…
In collective robotic systems, the automatic generation of controllers for complex tasks is still a challenging problem. Open-ended evolution of complex robot behaviors can be a possible solution whereby an intrinsic driver for pattern…
Non-equilibrium thermodynamics has long been an area of substantial interest to ecologists because most fundamental biological processes, such as protein synthesis and respiration, are inherently energy-consuming. Microbial communities are…
Strand displacement and tile assembly systems are designed to follow prescribed kinetic rules (i.e., exhibit a specific time-evolution). However, the expected behavior in the limit of infinite time--known as thermodynamic equilibrium--is…
An optimal control strategy is developed to construct nanostructures of desired geometry along line segments by means of directed self-assembly of charged particles. Such a control strategy determines the electric potentials of a set of…
Recently we have introduced a simplified model of ecosystem assembly (Capitan et al., 2009) for which we are able to map out all assembly pathways generated by external invasions in an exact manner. In this paper we provide a deeper…
In bidisperse particle mixtures varying in size or density alone, large particles rise (driven by percolation) and heavy particles sink (driven by buoyancy). When the two particle species differ from each other in both size and density, the…
Phenomenological nonequilibrium thermodynamics describes how fluxes of conserved quantities such as matter, energy and charge flow from outer reservoirs across a system, and how they irreversibly degrade from one form to another. Stochastic…
Self-assembly at submicroscopic scales is an important but little understood phenomenon. A prominent example is virus capsid growth, whose underlying behavior can be modeled using simple particles that assemble into polyhedral shells.…
The onset of self-assembly in a dilute aqueous solution containing a flexible polymer and surfactant is theoretically studied. Focusing on the effect of the surfactant on polymer conformation and using a conjecture of partial collapse of…