OAC Core: Small: Efficient and scalable tools for design and analysis of active matter systems

OAC 核心：小型：用于设计和分析活性物质系统的高效且可扩展的工具

• 批准号: 2007181
• 负责人: Tong Gao
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2007181&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: OAC; Core; Small; Efficient; scalable

The term "active matter" denotes a novel class of non-equilibrium materials made up of constituents that are self-driven, powered by converting the energy in the environment (typically chemical energy) to mechanical work (locomotion or swimming). They are abundant in nature, from the animate to the inanimate; this terminology can be used to describe flocks of birds or swarms of bacteria that self-organize to chemically active colloidal particles. The common characteristics of active matter are collective motion, anomalous fluctuations, and mechanical properties that cannot be explained by equilibrium physics. To date, most studies have been on small systems or a limited number of particles with the goal of understanding the underlying behavior with over-simplified property descriptors. This project seeks to develop a framework that will enable both understanding and exploiting the properties of active matter systems; to take this engineering leap forward, the project team intends to develop a publicly available virtual laboratory, the Fast Active Matter Simulator (FAMS), that will enable prototyping of novel active matter systems via efficient discrete particle methods. To enable widespread dissemination, the project will create local K-12 outreach programs, leverage REU opportunities for undergraduate students, recruit under-represented students, and incorporate computational techniques into our undergraduate and graduate curriculum. The proposed research will transform the state-of-the-art in active matter research, from understanding simple canonical systems to design tools that would enable engineering/manipulation of active matter to build systems. To do so, one needs to account for the morphology of particles, ambient environment, external forces, etc. As the problem is inherently multiscale, one needs to develop rigorous methods that are efficient across these scales, and fully resolve the long- and short-range interactions by incorporating the details of particle shapes, complex geometries of obstacles, and confinement boundaries. To realize the above objectives, the project team will perform research and development in four different areas; (a) higher-order representation of both geometry and physics on the geometry via isogeometric methods so as to guarantee fidelity without high cost, (b) casting these representations within a boundary integral equation based framework, (c) integrating with a set of acceleration techniques to reduce memory and computational bottlenecks to facilitate analysis of realistic aggregates, and (d) integration with existing libraries to leverage parallel algorithms for linear algebra (dense and sparse). The project will use this framework to characterize material properties and collective dynamics. These new methods will transform the state-of-the-art in active matter research, from understanding simple canonical systems to building tools that would enable engineering/manipulation of active matter to build virtual “living” systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

术语“活性物质”指的是一类新的非平衡物质，由自驱动的成分组成，通过将环境中的能量（通常是化学能）转化为机械功（运动或游泳）来提供动力。从有生命的到无生命的，它们在自然界中是丰富的；这个术语可以用来描述自组织成化学活性胶体颗粒的鸟群或细菌群。活性物质的共同特征是集体运动、异常波动和平衡物理学无法解释的机械特性。迄今为止，大多数研究都是在小系统或有限数量的粒子上进行的，目的是通过过度简化的性质描述符来理解潜在的行为。该项目旨在开发一个框架，使人们能够理解和利用活性物质系统的特性；为了实现这一工程飞跃，项目团队打算开发一个公开可用的虚拟实验室，即快速活性物质模拟器（FAMS），该实验室将通过有效的离散粒子方法实现新型活性物质系统的原型设计。为了实现广泛传播，该项目将创建本地K-12外展计划，利用REU为本科生提供的机会，招募代表性不足的学生，并将计算技术纳入我们的本科和研究生课程。拟议的研究将改变活性物质研究的最新技术，从理解简单的规范系统到设计工具，使活性物质的工程/操纵能够建立系统。要做到这一点，需要考虑粒子的形态、周围环境、外力等。由于问题本质上是多尺度的，人们需要开发严格的方法来有效地跨越这些尺度，并通过结合粒子形状、复杂几何形状的障碍物和限制边界的细节来充分解决远距离和短程相互作用。为实现上述目标，项目团队将在四个不同领域进行研究和开发；(a)通过等高几何方法在几何上对几何和物理进行高阶表示，从而在不高成本的情况下保证保真度；(b)在基于边界积分方程的框架内对这些表示进行浇筑；(c)与一组加速技术集成以减少内存和计算瓶颈，以促进对现实聚合的分析；(d)与现有库集成以利用线性代数（密集和稀疏）的并行算法。该项目将使用这个框架来描述材料特性和集体动态。这些新方法将改变活性物质研究的最新技术，从理解简单的规范系统到构建工具，这些工具将使活性物质的工程/操纵能够构建虚拟的“活”系统。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。