Soft Matter Far From Equilibrium - CHESS 2030 Workshop - June 10-11, 2021

Much of the richness of the world around us – and in fact life itself – arises from conditions and processes far from equilibrium. And yet in contrast to systems at or near-equilibrium, our understanding of the basic principles of far-from-equilibrium systems is in its infancy. Non-equilibrium processes are particularly relevant in soft-matter systems, with huge impacts on areas ranging from health to energy to manufacturing.

Since soft-matter structures are based on weak interaction forces, even small external perturbations can substantially alter their behavior, leading to both complexity and novel phenomena and applications. In macromolecular systems, for example, structural relaxation times can be very long, such that they often retain a memory of the preparation or processing conditions, a key to the large diversity of macromolecular structures and many technological innovations. Furthermore, in analogy to biology, the study of soft dissipative systems with an ability to produce energy and convert it from one form to another has led to the emergent field of active matter. In recent years, efforts have intensified to systematically study such non-equilibrium processes in soft matter in order to explore entirely novel phenomena associated with transient structure, order, and dynamics, and to improve our fundamental understanding of them.

X-ray scattering, particularly using synchrotron radiation, is in many ways uniquely able to probe the three-dimensional, atomic-scale structure of soft matter over a wide range of time- and spatial scales, providing critical information needed to elucidate the fundamental processes and later to control them.

This workshop will bring together leading researchers from around the world to discuss key challenges and opportunities in this area, with a special focus on the communities needs in the coming decade to ensure timely progress in this field. The workshop will feature four, two-hour sessions, with additional opportunities for contributed, short contributions. The four sessions will focus on different sub-topics:

• Polymer Self-Assembly
• Active Materials and Processes
• Highly Non-Equilibrium Dynamics in Advanced Manufacturing
• Crystallization Pathways from Solution

In addition, an "Idea Slam" will take place Thursday afternoon, consisting of a series of short, 3-5 minute talks followed by discussion.

Please join us for this timely and exciting workshop.

Download the workshop flyer here.

Agenda:

Idea Slam Groupings

Organizing Committee:

Cornell: Nicholas L Abbott, Joel Brock, Lara A. Estroff, Tobias Hanrath, Ulrich Wiesner

AFRL: Hilmar Koerner

CHESS: Louisa Smieska, Zhongwu Wang, Arthur Woll

This workshop is supported by the National Science foundation (CMMI-2129468).