Physics & Astronomy Kerstin Nordstrom - Mount Holyoke College

"Particle Physics: From Grains To Cells"

Is toothpaste a liquid or solid? Why is it so difficult to run on sand? What makes squishy stuff, well, squishy? The answers to these questions are all related to physics at the natural “mesoscale” of these materials: the constituent particles, cells, droplets, or polymers. In this talk, we will explore the behavior of several of these systems (hard grains, soft colloids, and living cells) in flowing or nonequilibrium states. We will introduce novel experimental techniques and metrics for characterizing motion. The systems show certain universalities in their behavior; the systems' discreteness and density beget the emergence of similar dynamics, even though the particles and interactions in each system are different. (We will also likely mention robots.)