This is part of a seminar series for students and researchers interested in theoretical physics and applied mathematics. Listen to Lorenzo Piro (University of Rome Tor Vergata) during the seminar "Optimal navigation in active matter: autonomy and shape trade-offs".
Abstract: "Motile active matter systems are composed by a collection of agents, each of which extracts energy from the surrounding environment in order to convert it into self-driven motion. At the microscopic scale, however, directed motion is hindered by both the presence of stochastic fluctuations. Living microorganisms therefore had to develop simple yet effective propulsion and steering mechanisms in order to survive. We may turn the question of how these processes work in nature around and ask how they should work in order to perform a task in the theoretically optimal way, an issue which falls under the name of the optimal navigation problem.
In the first part of my talk, I will show how, inspired by the tactic behaviours observed in nature, we developed a whole new class of navigation strategies that allows an active particle to navigate semi-autonomously in a complex and noisy environment. Moreover, our study reveals that the performance of the theoretical optimal strategy can be reproduced starting from some simple principles based on symmetry and stability arguments.
In the second part, I will instead delve into the interplay between microswimmer geometry and energetic efficiency. Our investigation reveals that as microswimmer shapes transition from prolate to oblate, they naturally adopt more time-optimal trajectories in response to flow gradients. However, this transition comes at the cost of increased energy consumption. Through optimal control theory, we derive steering policies that minimize overall energy dissipation, emphasizing the role of swimmer geometry in practical navigation scenarios."
Participate on campus or via Zoom.
On campus: Von Bahr, Soliden 1, Origovägen 6B
Zoom link: https://gu-se.zoom.us/j/64681043702