Hydrodynamics and Rheology of Active Suspensions and Gels

M. Cristina Marchetti
William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor and Chair, Syracuse University

The complex dynamical properties of living cells are driven by active processes at the molecular scale, such as the action of motor proteins. This activity results in self-organization and new material properties at the macroscopic scale and controls much of the mechanical response of the cell.

After reviewing some of the remarkable structural and mechanical properties of active materials, I will describe some of our theoretical work on these systems. Employing tools from soft condensed matter and polymer physics, we have derived generic hydrodynamic equations for active suspensions and have used them to study the large-scale organization and the rheology of an active fluid network. Activity is found to have profound effects on the large scale properties of the system, driving transitions between disordered and self-assembled ordered states and controlling the emergence of complex spatial structures (e.g., microtubules asters).

Date:  Thursday, May 22, 2008
Engineering Bldg, Unit 2, Room 138
Time: 3:45 PM
Coffee served in the Physics Bldg. - Barkas Lounge @ 3:10 PM