Inverse problems in soft and active matter

Name: Inverse problems in soft and active matter
Start: 2026-03-02T16:30:00+00:00
End: 2026-03-02T17:30:00+00:00
Location: CMSA, 20 Garden St, G10

CMSA COLLOQUIUM

When: March 2, 2026

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm

Where: CMSA, 20 Garden St, G10

Address: 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States

Speaker: L Mahadevan (Harvard University: SEAS, Physics and OEB)

How can one grow a face or a flower from a flat sheet? Fold a sheet into an origami pattern? Control phase separation? Transport a drop of active matter? Steer an ant swarm? I will discuss potential answers to some of these inverse problems that unites ideas from optimal control and optimal transport for the steering of particles and fields.