Speaker: Mr. Al-Izzi Title: Hydro-osmotic Instabilities in Active Membrane Tubes Abstract: We study a membrane tube with unidirectional ion pumps driving an osmotic pressure difference [1]. A pressure-driven peristaltic instability is identified, qualitatively distinct from similar tension-driven Rayleigh-type instabilities on membrane tubes. We discuss how this instability could be related to the function and biogenesis of membrane bound organelles, in particular, the contractile vacuole complex an organelle found in many single celled organisms responsible for osmoregulation. The unusually long natural wavelength of this instability is in agreement with that observed in cells. [1] S. C. Al-Izzi, G. Rowlands, P. Sens, and M. S. Turner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 138102 (2018) Place:  A4-115 Time:  […]

Date&Time: November 6 (Tue.) 2018, 14:00-15:00 Venue: Kyoto University Katsura Campus A4-115 Speaker: Dr Giulio G. Giusteri (Politecnico di Milano) From stress projections to material functions for complex fluids A general decomposition of the stress tensor for incompressible fluids will be introduced. It is given in terms of the stress components on a tensorial basis adapted to the local flow conditions, which include extensional flows, simple shear flows, and any type of mixed flows. This decomposition offers an essential tool for interpreting the non-Newtonian response in generic flows [1]. They are useful to coherently organize experimental and computational data and to set up multiscale simulations. The material functions that can […]

Date&Time: October 26 (Fri) 2018, 14:00- Venue: Kyoto University Katsura Campus A4-115 Speaker: Dr Kiyoshi Kanazawa (Tokyo Institute of Technology) Title: Statistical mechanics of financial Brownian motion: kinetic theory from microscopic dynamics Abstract: Kinetic theory is a landmark of statistical physics and is applicable to reveal the physical Brownian motion from first principles. In this framework, the Boltzmann and Langevin equations are systematically derived from the Newtonian dynamics via the Bogoliubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon (BBGKY) hierarchy [1,2]. In light of this success, it is natural to apply this methodology to social science beyond physics, such as to finance. In this presentation, we apply kinetic theory to financial Brownian motion [3,4] with the empirical […]

Date&Time: July 12 (Thu) 2018, 14:00-16:00 Venue: Kyoto University Katsura Campus A4-115 Title: Multidimensional characterization of colloidal nanoparticles Speaker: Prof. Wolfgang Peukert, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany Abstract: An important worldwide trend in particle technology is the requirement to understand systems of ever increasing complexity. Available techniques for particle characterization are predominantly focused on size characterization. Even simultaneous size and shape characterization is still an unresolved major challenge. Beyond size, also shape, particle surface and the particle’s inner structure come into focus. These structural features are closely related to biological, chemical, electronic, mechanical and optical properties of the particles opening vast opportunities in many fields of application including nanoelectronics, photonics, energy conversion […]