Creating Programmable Microfluidic Networks
Microfluidic systems are now being designed with precision as miniaturized fluid manipulation devices that can execute increasingly complex tasks. However, their operation often requires numerous external control devices. In our recent Nature article, we design microfluidic networks whose behavior can be harnessed to create a fluid analogue of Braess’s paradox and switch the direction of internal flows solely by manipulating the input and/or output pressures. These findings can be used to create built-in control mechanisms, thereby facilitating the development of portable systems and enabling novel applications, ranging from wearable healthcare technologies to deployable space systems.
Demonstrating Converse Symmetry Breaking
Symmetry breaking—the phenomenon in which the symmetry of a system is not inherited by its stable states—underlies pattern formation, superconductivity, and numerous other effects. Theoretical work has established the possibility of converse symmetry breaking, a phenomenon in which the stable states are symmetric only when the system itself is not. This includes scenarios in which interacting entities are required to be non-identical in order to exhibit identical behavior, such as in reaching consensus. In our recent Nature Physics article, we present an experimental demonstration of this phenomenon using a network of electromechanical oscillators. An animated summary of the work is available here and you can view our cover on the issue here.
Videos
Cascade Vulnerability of the North American Power Grid
Janus Oscillator Networks
Levitation of Heavy Particles in Downward Flows
Network Analog of the Butterfly Effect
Fractal Geometry of Doubly Transient Chaos
Outreach: What is Entropy?
Outreach: Syncing Up Without Sameness
Outreach: Self-Siphoning Beads
Recent Publications
Y. Zhang, J. L. Ocampo-Espindola, I. Z. Kiss, and A. E. Motter,
Random heterogeneity outperforms design in network synchronization,
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 118(21), e2024299118 (2021).
doi:10.1073/pnas.2024299118
arXiv:2105.11476
Z.G. Nicolaou, D.J. Case, E.B. van der Wee, M.M. Driscoll, and A.E. Motter,
Heterogeneity-stabilized homogeneous states in driven media,
Nature Communications 12, 4486 (2021).
doi:10.1038/s41467-021-24459-0
arXiv:2108.01087
Y. Zhang, V. Latora, and A.E. Motter,
Unified treatment of synchronization patterns in generalized networks with higher-order, multilayer, and temporal interactions,
Communications Physics 4, 195 (2021).
doi:10.1038/s42005-021-00695-0
arXiv:2010.00613
C. Duan, G. Bharati, P. Chakraborty, B. Chen, T. Nishikawa, and A.E. Motter,
Practical challenges in real-time demand response,
IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid 12, 4573 (2021).
doi:10.1109/TSG.2021.3084470
arXiv:2108.04836
Z. G. Nicolaou and A. E. Motter,
Anharmonic classical time crystals: A coresonance pattern formation mechanism,
Phys. Rev. Research 3, 023106 (2021).
doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.023106 - Animated summary
arXiv:2105.05264
Y. Sugitani, Y. Zhang, and A.E. Motter,
Synchronizing Chaos with Imperfections,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 164101 (2021).
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.164101
arXiv:2104.13376
F. Molnar, T. Nishikawa, and A.E. Motter,
Asymmetry underlies stability in power grids,
Nature Communications 12, 1457 (2021).
doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21290-5
arXiv:2103.10952
C. Duan, P. Chakraborty, T. Nishikawa, and A.E. Motter,
Hierarchical power flow control in smart grids: Enhancing rotor angle and frequency stability with demand-side flexibility,
IEEE Trans. Control Netw. Syst. (accepted).
Early Access via IEEE Xplorer
doi:10.1109/TCNS.2021.3070665
Y. Zhang and A.E. Motter,
Mechanism for strong chimeras,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 094101 (2021).
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.094101
arXiv:2101.12230
F.M. Brady, Y. Zhang, A.E. Motter,
Forget partitions: Cluster synchronization in directed networks generates hierarchies,
arXiv:2106.13220
Y. Zhang and A.E. Motter,
Symmetry-independent stability analysis of synchronization patterns,
SIAM Review 62(4), 817-836 (2020).
doi:10.1137/19M127358X
arXiv:2003.05461
Adilson E. Motter
Photo by Eileen Molony
Professor Motter's research is focused on the dynamical behavior and control of complex systems and networks. More...
Twitter - Google Scholar - ORCID
YouTube Channel
“Janus Bunch” Complexity Explorable
Explore the wealth of dynamical states exhibited in a network of Janus oscillators.
Group News
July 2021: Yuanzhao Zhang has just been selected as one of the three winners of the 2021 SIAM Student Paper Prize for the paper "Symmetry-Independent Stability Analysis of Synchronization Patterns" published in the December 2020 issue of SIAM Review.
June 2021: Yanxuan (Charlotte) Shao receives the 2020-21 outstanding teaching assistant award.
March 2021: Chloe T. Calderon is awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
November 2020: Our work on extreme gene-environment antagonism is featured in the cover image of the Biophysical Journal.
September 2020: Adilson E. Motter is elected Fellow of the Network Science Society "for seminal contributions to the study of nonlinear dynamics on networks, including synchronization, cascading failures, synthetic rescues, control, symmetry phenomena, and applications to biological networks, metamaterials, microfluidics, and power grids."
June 2020: Fiona Brady receives the departmental award for Outstanding Senior Thesis in Physics and Astronomy.
April 2020: Yuanzhao Zhang named 2020 Schmidt Science Fellow.
March 2020: Our work on converse symmetry breaking is featured in the cover image of Nature Physics.
Selected Press
Diversity can prevent failures in large power grids
Northwestern Now (April 1, 2021)
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This Is The Reason American Politics Are So Polarized
Forbes (October 27, 2020)
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The Dominance of Chaos
Mashable (September 2, 2020)
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Why are US Parties so Polarized?
SIAM News (August 25, 2020)
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Physics shows that imperfections make perfect
Northwestern Now (January 20, 2020)
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