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From Colloids to Bacteria: Anisotropy in Self-Organizing Systems at the Mesoscopic Scale

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Monday, April 07, 2014
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Kun Zhao (UCLA)
Duke Physics Colloquium

** Please note this event is on MONDAY not Wednesday and will be held at 3:00pm not 3:30pm. **"From Colloids to Bacteria: Anisotropy in Self-Organizing Systems at the Mesoscopic Scale" - Many complex mesoscopic systems, ranging from synthetic colloids to active biological cells, exhibit a rich variety of pattern-forming behavior. In this talk, I will show you how anisotropy in two model systems, anisotropic shaped colloids and bacterial communities, affect complex pattern formation. During the directed self-assembly of colloidal systems, shape anisotropy can greatly influence resulting structures. We have developed a technique called roughness controlled depletion attraction which allows us to prove the phase space of 2D Brownian systems for a variety of anisotropic shapes such as triangles, squares, and other polygons. We have discovered several unanticipated effects, such as local chiral symmetry breaking in a triatic liquid crustal phase of uniform triangles. Anisotropy also plays a large role in the formation of bacterial communities called biofilms... Please click link to read more.Refreshments will be served after the event in room 128.

Contact: Cristin Paul