SELF-ORGANIZATION AND NONEQUILIBRIUM AGGREGATION PHENOMENA IN COLLOIDAL MATTER: WHY MICROGRAVITY MATTERS

Abstract

The relevance of self-organization, nonlinear phenomena and nonequilibrium behavior in a wide range of problems in space science and microgravity research, calls for a concerted approach using the tools of statistical physics, thermodynamics, nonlinear dynamics, mathematical modeling and numerical simulation, in synergy with experimentally oriented work. The reason behind the ubiquity of such concepts is that in many instances of relevance in space science one witnesses an interplay between molecular and macroscopic-level entities and processes, such as nucleation in phase transitions or aggregation and self-assembly in materials science and biology. These phenomena are fundamentally dynamic in nature. We present two minimal models one dealing with issues of complex behavior at the microscopic level and the second referring to the strong nonlinear nature of macroscopic evolution, relevant to soft-condensed matter under observation both on the ground and in microgravity conditions. These investigations open the way to a whole class of unexpected situations whose proper characterization and control can only be expected in the framework of nonequilibrium physics and complexity theory.