Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Active and Driven Systems: Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics

Objective

Active Matter systems, such as self-propelled colloids, violate time-reversal symmetry by producing entropy locally, typically converting fuel into mechanical motion at the particle scale. Other driven systems instead produce entropy because of global forcing by external fields, or boundary conditions that impose macroscopic fluxes (such as the momentum flux across a fluid sheared between moving parallel walls).

Nonequilibrium statistical physics (NeSP) is the basic toolbox for both classes of system. In recent years, much progress in NeSP has stemmed from bottom-up work on driven systems. This has provided a number of exactly solved benchmark models, and extended approximation techniques to address driven non-ergodic systems, such as sheared glasses. Meanwhile, work on fluctuation theorems and stochastic thermodynamics have created profound, model-independent insights into dynamics far from equilibrium.

More recently, the field of Active Matter has moved forward rapidly, leaving in its wake a series of generic and profound NeSP questions that now need answers: When is time-reversal symmetry, broken at the microscale, restored by coarse-graining? If it is restored, is an effective thermodynamic description is possible? How different is an active system's behaviour from a globally forced one?

ADSNeSP aims to distil from recent Active Matter research such fundamental questions; answer them first in the context of specific models and second in more general terms; and then, using the tools and insights gained, shed new light on longstanding problems in the wider class of driven systems.

I believe these new tools and insights will be substantial, because local activity takes systems far from equilibrium in a conceptually distinct direction from most types of global driving. By focusing on general principles and on simple models of activity, I seek to create a new vantage point that can inform, and potentially transform, wider areas of statistical physics.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2016-ADG

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 043 630,00
Address
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN Cambridge
United Kingdom

See on map

Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 043 630,00

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0