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Public lecture "Light-Regulated Active & Adaptive Amorphous Matter" & Panel discussion "From metastability to Function in Soft and Hard Matter"

Title of the event Public lecture "Light-Regulated Active & Adaptive Amorphous Matter" & Panel discussion "From metastability to Function in Soft and Hard Matter"
Series Workshop: "Driven and active amorphous matter"
Organizer Institut für Theoretische Physik und MPI-DS
Speaker Maziyar Jalaal
Speaker institution University of Amsterdam
Type of event Sonstige Veranstaltungsart
Category Forschung
Registration required Nein
Details Light plays a crucial role in various biological processes, from the mesmerizing bioluminescence of living organisms to photosynthesis. Here, we delve into how organisms adapt to ever-changing light conditions by modifying their photosynthetic apparatus. First, we examine the active motion of discoid chloroplasts in plants and show that dim-light conditions lead to an accumulation into an optimally dense, quasi-2D layer resembling systems near the glass transition. Our study suggests that the metastable caging at this transition in the chloroplast monolayer has physiological relevance: chloroplasts remain spread out to maximize light uptake but can readily fluidize when activity increases, allowing efficient rearrangement into an avoidance configuration. Second, we explore the chloroplast morphodynamics of a single-celled marine alga, whose disordered chloroplast network undergoes dramatic deformation under intense light. We show that this unusual, reticulated morphology exhibits properties similar to auxetic metamaterials, facilitating the rapid, large-scale deformation necessary for light-avoidance movements within the confines of the cell wall. Our study highlights how topologically complex metamaterials are harnessed in critical life-sustaining processes and how simple dynamical rules can govern complex material transport in crowded intracellular environments. n the end, we will present a range of open problems in the field and explain how we plan to address some of them using approaches that span from microscopy to robotics!
Date Start: 22.07.2025, 17:00 Uhr
Ende: 22.07.2025 , 00:00 Uhr
Location Max-Planck-Institut für Multidisziplinäre Naturwissenschaften (MPI-NAT, Faßberg-Campus) (Am Faßberg 11)
Contact Prof. Dr. Peter Sollich
peter.sollich@uni-goettingen.de