Active matter

Active matter is a system of particles capable of converting its internal energy into mechanical motion. Examples of active matter can be both biological systems such as bacterial colonies, flocks of birds and shoals of fish, and artificial environments consisting of colloidal micromotors or robots. The non-equilibrium nature of active matter leads to various interesting phenomena, including phase transitions, self-organization, and the performance of collective functions that a single particle cannot cope with. To all practical purposes, such swarm systems can be used in robotics, medicine and energetics.

The New Phystech group is engaged in the study of active matter, implemented using clusters of mobile robots. Within the framework of the project, a full cycle of work is carried out: from the development of an experimental platform and software to conducting experiments and theoretical analysis of the results obtained.