Entropy and active elasticity
"Entropy and active elasticity"
Dhrubaditya Mitra
Special seminar hosted by Professor Venkadesan
Abstract: The traditional field of continuum mechanics, which contains both elasticity and fluid mechanics is going through a resurgence due to possible applications to biology. Biological systems bring in two novel aspects: (a) biological samples are complex -- often they cannot be clearly demarcated into solid and fluid. They may be viscoelastic. (b) biological samples are living. This second aspect is the most important one. The fundamental aspect of a living systems is that they are out of equilibrium -- they generate entropy. This poses the question: how do the equations of elasticity and fluid mechanics must change to take into account the fundamental non-equilibrium nature of these systems. Within this broad framework, I will present two problems. One, how to estimate the entropy generation rate, which is a measure of activity, of living systems. Two, how the buckling of shells, a traditional non-linear problem in elasticity, change if the shells are made active.
Refs :
* Active buckling of pressurized spherical shells: Monte Carlo Simulation, V Agrawal, V Pandey, and D Mitra (arXiv:2206.14172)
* Estimate of entropy generation rate can spatiotemporally resolve the active nature of cell flickering, SK Manikandan, T Ghosh, T Mandal, A Biswas, B Sinha, and D Mitra (arXiv:2205.12849)
Short Bio: Dhrubaditya Mitra obtained his PhD from Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore working on spatiotemporal multiscaling in turbulence. He had postdoctoral positions in Nice Observatory and Queen Mary University of London. He has been at NORDITA, Stockholm, since 2010. He has worked on a wide variety of problem from length scales of micrometer (cells) to mega meters (the Sun). At present, he is mostly working on problems in soft matter and statistical physics with minor involvements in astrophysical and geophysical problems.
Thursday, November 17
3-4 p.m.
Mason Lab, Room 107
9 Hillhouse Avenue