Smarte Materialien: Geometrie, Nichtlokalität, Chiralität

22.01.2021–21.07.2027
FWF START project
Principle investigator: Elisa DAVOLI (E101-01)

Tunable (or smart) materials are a special class of metamaterials that are characterised by their ability to adapt their response to the properties of the external environment. As such, tunable materials are seen as the future for optical computing, quantum information and next-generation technology. An essential first step towards building a comprehensive theory for tunable materials is the identification of rigorously derived macroscopic mathematical models capable of incorporating multiphase features and phase transitions into the description of complex microstructures. This project aims to answer three fundamental questions: 1) How is the effective material response of a smart material influenced by the geometry of its components? 2) How do non-local effects interact with time-evolving phase transitions and with the possible appearance of microstructures? 3) How do the chiral properties of active metamaterials interact with macroscopic tunability?

Project collaborators: Samuele RICCÒ (PhD-Student), Tobias UNTERBERGER (PhD-Student), Anna KUBIN (Postdoc), Emanuele TASSO (Postdoc)