Related papers: Emergent Complexity in a Light-Driven Self-Oscilla…
Light's orbital angular momentum (OAM) is an unbounded degree of freedom emerging in helical beams that appears very advantageous technologically. Using a chiral microlaser, i.e. an integrated device that allows generating an emission…
With exquisite precision and reproducibility, cells orchestrate the cooperative action of thousands of nanometer-sized molecular motors to carry out mechanical tasks at much larger length scales, such as cell motility, division and…
We use moving light patterns to control the motion of {\it Escherichia coli} bacteria whose motility is photo-activated. Varying the pattern speed controls the magnitude and direction of the bacterial flux, and therefore the accumulation of…
We study the model of a molecular switch comprised of a molecule with a soft vibrational degree of freedom coupled to metallic leads. In the presence of strong electron-ion interaction, different charge states of the molecule correspond to…
The dynamics of several light filaments (spatial optical solitons) propagating in an optically nonlinear and non-local random medium is investigated using the paradigms of the physics of complexity. Cluster formation is interpreted as a…
Active colloids and liquid crystals are capable of locally converting the macroscopically-supplied energy into directional motion and promise a host of new applications, ranging from drug delivery to cargo transport at the mesoscale. Here…
We experimentally study the crystallization of a monolayer of vibrated discs with a built-in polar asymmetry, a model system of active liquids, and contrast it with that of vibrated isotropic discs. Increasing the packing fraction $\phi$,…
Recent studies aimed at investigating artificial analogs of bacterial colonies have shown that low-density suspensions of self-propelled particles confined in two dimensions can assemble into finite aggregates that merge and split, but have…
A common feature of biological self-organization is how active agents communicate with each other or their environment via chemical signaling. Such communications, mediated by self-generated chemical gradients, have consequences for both…
Active soft matter frequently shows motility-induced phase separation (MIPS), where self-propelled particles condensate into clusters with an inner liquid-like structure. Such activity may also result in motility-induced crystallization…
A mechanism for self propulsion of deformable vesicle has been proposed, vesicle moves by sensing the self-generated chemical gradient. Like many molecular motors they suffer strong perturbations from the environment in which they move as a…
We analyze the migration characteristics of a droplet in an oscillatory flow field in a parallel plate micro-confinement. Using phase filed formalism, we capture the dynamical evolution of the droplet over a wide range of the frequency of…
Inert particles suspended in active fluids of self-propelled particles are known to often exhibit enhanced diffusion and novel coherent structures. Here we numerically investigate the dynamical behavior and self-organization in a system…
The recent progress towards production of near-ground state quantum-degenerate molecules raises the issue of how such "small" molecules behave in an optical lattice. In this Letter we show that the coupling of the molecular orientation to…
Understanding and controlling physical aging, i.e. the spontaneous temporal evolution of out-of-equilibrium systems, represents one of the greatest tasks in material science. Recent studies have revealed the existence of a complex atomic…
Through extensive studies of dynamical system modeling cellular growth and reproduction, we find evidence that complexity arises in multicellular organisms naturally through evolution. Without any elaborate control mechanism, these systems…
Increasing the number of particles in a system often leads to qualitative changes in its properties, such as breaking of symmetries and the appearance of phase transitions. This renders a macroscopic system fundamentally different from its…
Living organisms have mastered the dynamic control of internal stresses to perform an array of functions, such as change shape and locomote. State-of-the-art attempts to replicate this ability in synthetic materials are rudimentary in…
Observing and controlling macroscopic quantum systems has long been a driving force in research on quantum physics. In this endeavor, strong coupling between individual quantum systems and mechanical oscillators is being actively pursued.…
Colloids are abundant in nature, science and technology, with examples ranging from milk to quantum dots and the "colloidal atom" paradigm. Similarly, liquid crystal ordering is important in contexts ranging from biological membranes to…