Related papers: Memory-driven topological ordering during the tran…

Spatially confined rigid membranes reorganize their morphology in response to the imposed constraints. A crumpled elastic sheet presents a complex pattern of random folds focusing the deformation energy while compressing a membrane resting…

Topological defects play a critical role across many fields, mediating phase transitions and macroscopic behaviors as they move through space. Their role as robust information carriers has also generated much attention. However, controlling…

Cell invasion and spatial pattern formation are two distinct manifestations of cellular self-organisation in development, regeneration, and disease. Here, we develop and analyse a unified theoretical framework that links these two seemingly…

Experiments reveal that structural transitions in thin sheets are mediated by the passage of transient and stable mobile localized elastic excitations. These ``crumples'' or ``d-cones'' nucleate, propagate, interact, annihilate, and escape.…

Epithelial cell monolayers show remarkable displacement and velocity correlations over distances of ten or more cell sizes that are reminiscent of supercooled liquids and active nematics. We show that many observed features can be described…

We investigate the effect of sliding motion of layers in Moir\'e heterostructures on the electronic state. We show that the sliding Moir\'e heterostructure can generate nontrivial topology characterized by the first and second Chern number…

We study the coupling between the structural dynamics and rheological response of charged colloidal monolayers at water/oil interfaces, driven into steady shear by a microdisk rotating at a controlled angular velocity. The flow causes…

Protocol-dependent states in structural glasses can encode a disordered, yet retrievable memory. While training such materials is typically done via a global drive, such as external shear, in dense active matter the driving is instead local…

Many types of mammalian cells exert active contractile forces and mechanically deform their elastic substrate, to accomplish biological functions such as cell migration. These substrate deformations provide a mechanism by which cells can…

Spatial awareness in mammals is based on internalized representations of the environment---cognitive maps---encoded by networks of spiking neurons. Although behavioral studies suggest that these maps can remain stable for long periods, it…

Growth and shape formation in crowded multicellular assemblies arise from the interplay of chemical gradients, single-cell expansion and mechanical interactions, making it essential to understand how these processes jointly shape collective…

Far from equilibrium, amorphous solids exhibit structural relaxations that span a vast range of timescales such as physical aging and creep. Recently, it has been shown that such relaxations are driven by via intermittent, scale-free, yet…

We present a microscopic model of a disordered viscoelastic active solid, i.e. an active material whose long time behaviour is elastic as opposed to viscous. It is composed of filaments, passive crosslinks and molecular motors powered by…

The mechanics of epithelial tissues, which is governed by forces generated in various cell domains, is often investigated using two-dimensional models that account for the apically-positioned actomyosin structures but neglect basolateral…

We study reactive transport in a stressed porous media, where dissolution of the solid matrix causes two simultaneous, competing effects: pore enlargement (chemical deformation), and pore compaction due to mechanical weakening. A novel,…

Epithelization, the process whereby an epithelium covers a cell-free surface, is not only central to wound healing but also pivotal in embryonic morphogenesis, regeneration, and cancer. In the context of wound healing, the epithelization…

Entangled networks are ubiquitous in tissues, polymers, and fabrics. However, their mechanics remain insufficiently understood due to the complexity of the topological constraints at the network level. Here, we develop a mathematical…

In amorphous materials, plasticity is localized and occurs as shear transformations. It was recently shown by Wu et al. that these shear transformations can be predicted by applying topological defect concepts developed for liquid crystals…

Active nematic models explain the topological defects and flow patterns observed in epithelial tissues, but the nature of active stress-whether it is extensile or contractile, a key parameter of the theory-is not well established…

Interacting, self-propelled particles such as epithelial cells can dynamically self-organize into complex multicellular patterns, which are challenging to classify without a priori information. Classically, different phases and phase…