Public Abstract

DE-SC0022280: A framework for exploring and controlling non-equilibrium coherent states in active fluids based on global phase space geometry

Award Status: Active

Institution: The Board of Regents, University of Nebraska for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
UEI: HTQ6K6NJFHA6
DUNS: 555456995

Most Recent Award Date: 06/27/2024
Number of Support Periods: 4
PM: Gimm, Aura

Current Budget Period: 08/01/2024 - 07/31/2025
Current Project Period: 08/01/2024 - 07/31/2027
PI: grover, piyush

Supplement Budget Period: N/A

Public Abstract

A framework for exploring and controlling non-equilibrium coherent states in active fluids based on global phase space geometry Piyush Grover, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Principal Investigator) Jae Sung Park, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Co-Investigator) Michael M. Norton, Brandeis University, (Co-Investigator) Multifunctional bioinspired materials operating in far-from-equilibrium regimes are studied under the umbrella of active matter. A key goal of active, bioinspired materials research is to develop materials with the life-like properties of robust dynamical states and the ability to switch between them. This proposal aims to develop a global, fully nonlinear framework for understanding, designing and traversing the landscape of nonequilbrium steady states in a paradigmatic class of active matter, namely, active fluids. Our recent work has developed theoretical and computational tools using nonlinear dynamics theory to expose the infinite dimensional global phase space of active fluid systems. We showed that this phase space is populated by Exact Coherent Structures (ECS), which are exact solutions of the physical dynamics with distinct and regular spatiotemporal structure; examples include unstable equilibria, periodic orbits, and traveling waves. Our main hypothesis is that active/mesoscale turbulence corresponds to a trajectory meandering in this phase space, transitioning between neighborhoods of the ECSs by traveling on the invariant manifolds. The main objectives of this project are: 1. To develop a framework for predicting and classifying various classes of ECSs, and dynamical connections between them, as well as quantifying their robustness with respect to change in models, parameters and system geometries. 2. To verify the ECS hypothesis in the fully turbulent regime in active nematic simulations and using existing data from active nematic experiments. 3. To build upon the insights from the framework developed in the first objective to develop theoretical and computational machinery for incorporating a controller into the material itself.

A framework for exploring and controlling non-equilibrium coherent states in active fluids based on global phase space geometry

Piyush Grover, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Principal Investigator)

Jae Sung Park, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Co-Investigator)

Michael M. Norton, Brandeis University, (Co-Investigator)

Multifunctional bioinspired materials operating in far-from-equilibrium regimes are studied under the umbrella of active matter. A key goal of active, bioinspired materials research is to develop materials with the life-like properties of robust dynamical states and the ability to switch between them. This proposal aims to develop a global, fully nonlinear framework for understanding, designing and traversing the landscape of nonequilbrium steady states in a paradigmatic class of active matter, namely, active fluids.

Our recent work has developed theoretical and computational tools using nonlinear dynamics theory to expose the infinite dimensional global phase space of active fluid systems. We showed that this phase space is populated by Exact Coherent Structures (ECS), which are exact solutions of the physical dynamics with distinct and regular spatiotemporal structure; examples include unstable equilibria, periodic orbits, and traveling waves. Our main hypothesis is that active/mesoscale turbulence corresponds to a trajectory meandering in this phase space, transitioning between neighborhoods of the ECSs by traveling on the invariant manifolds.

The main objectives of this project are:

1. To develop a framework for predicting and classifying various classes of ECSs, and dynamical connections between them, as well as quantifying their robustness with respect to change in models, parameters and system geometries.

2. To verify the ECS hypothesis in the fully turbulent regime in active nematic simulations and using existing data from active nematic experiments.

3. To build upon the insights from the framework developed in the first objective to develop theoretical and computational machinery for incorporating a controller into the material itself.