03/22/2021
By Fernando Mazzoni

The Kennedy College of Sciences, Department of Physics, invites you to attend a Master's defense by Fernando Mazzoni on “Time Scales in Nucleation of Active Matter.”

M.S. Candidate: Fernando Mazzoni
Defense Date: Friday, March 26, 2021
Time: 1 to 2 p.m. EST
Location: This will be a virtual defense via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact Fernando_Mazzoni@student.uml.edu at least 24 hours prior to the defense to request access to the meeting.

Committee Chair (Advisor): Johannes Zwanikken, Professor, Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Committee Members:

  • Partha Chowdhury, Chair/Professor, Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Ofer Cohen, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract:

Active Matter describe a type of non-equilibrium Thermodynamic systems which consist of particles that dissipate energy. Although there is great interest in studying these various systems (e.g self-propelled colloids, driven granular materials, and even penguin huddling) slow progress has been made in creating theoretical models for self-propelled agent based systems. This is due to the great level of complexity in active matter systems. Our approach takes a simplified system, self-propelled squares, and analyzes the various properties through Molecular Dynamic simulations. In this study 80 self-propelled square simulations have been analyzed with various times intervals ranging from 1116 to 8720 time steps and propulsion angles from 0 degrees to 45 degrees with 1 degree intervals. The results are encouraging and displayed a direct dependence between the propulsion angle and clustering distribution. Understanding the formation and breakup of these clusters would be integral to further understanding phase separation in active systems as well as for further creation of even faster stochastic simulations. In tandem we will also compare with heuristically created physical models and predictions with our simulation results.

All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend the online defense via remote access.