Magkiriadou, Sofia - University of Chicago

Geometry and Phase Transitions in a Driven Colloidal System

Colloidal particles in suspension are excellent model systems for atomic matter. By encoding information in the particles, for instance with chemistry, their interactions can be engineered in a variety of ways, giving rise to rich phase behavior in their aggregates. Here, we ask: what happens when we can tune these interactions dynamically? And can we further control the phase behavior with geometry? We will share our observations on such a colloidal system where boundary effects give rise to intriguing emergent behavior.