Online Seminar: Controlling active matter: From engines to biased ensembles

Active matter is a class of nonequilibrium systems where every component extracts energy from its environment to produce an autonomous, directed motion. This directed motion yields some anomalous thermo-mechanical properties, and it can lead to collective states without any equilibrium equivalent. Many previous studies have studied in detail the phase diagrams of active systems, and to which extent some equations of states can be drawn beyond equilibrium. Yet, how to control optimally active matter, with a view either to extracting energy from the system or to promoting specific collective states, remains largely an open question. In this talk, I will discuss how to exploit and control nonequilibrium properties to (i) design innovative engines with thermodynamic cycles, and (ii) induce phase transitions in dissipation-biased ensembles.