Driven particles in colloidal hard sphere dispersions (C07)

• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 425217212

Propagation of stress and strain is of central importance in the theory of fluids and solids. In the first funding period, the evolution of solid-like stress correlations in viscoelastic fluid states was studied and predicted far-field correlations in fluids were verified. Now, we will focus on colloidal dispersions as a paradigmatic model for complex soft materials. We will investigate the response of dense colloidal systems to local perturbations with mode-coupling theory, simulations, and confocal microscopy. Our central goal is to answer whether the colloidal bath responds like a fluid by yielding locally or like a solid by showing elastic strain deformations far from the perturbation.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1432: Fluctuations and Nonlinearities in Classical and Quantum Matter beyond Equilibrium
• Applicant Institution: Universität Konstanz
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Matthias Fuchs; Professor Dr. Andreas Zumbusch