Dynamics of coarsening in systems of non-living and living objects

Abstract

Materials are found in multiple phases in the nature. A typical example is water, which is commonly seen in solid, liquid and vapor phases. Various equilibrium phases are decided by thermodynamic parameters like temperature (T), pressure (P), magnetic field (h), etc. A phase transition [1–4] occurs whenever the system undergoes a change from one equilibrium phase to another with the variation of these parameters. Phase transition is also observed in collective behavior of biological entities [5, 6]. Here, unlike inanimate or “passive” objects, system constituents are self propelled. This type of systems are called the “active” matter to distinguish them from the standard “passive” cases. In active matter transitions, usually a steady state is the counterpart of above mentioned equilibrium state. Large portion of this thesis deals with the passive systems. Therefore, unless mentioned explicitly, we will refer to a “passive system” simply as a “system”.