Davide Marenduzzo

The problems I am interested in are in the area of biological physics and soft condensed matter physics. In biological physics, I am interested in modelling DNA at several levels of complexity, either within bacteria or in eukaryotes, where it is associated with histones to form chromatin, and, at a larger scale, chromosomes. I am currently actively researching the spatial organisation of chromosomes, the self-assembly of chromatin fibers and their higher order organisation, and the physics of DNA organisation in bacteria. For all these projects I am using large scale computer simulations, and I collaborate with experimentalists in Edinburgh, UK and Europe. Our methods are Brownian dynamics simulations, and we are also working to incorporate hydrodynamic interactions in our molecular dynamics calculations. Still in biological physics, I have an ongoing interest in modelling cell motility and cytoskeletal dynamics, and I am also working actively on the physics of self-propelled particles and active matter. For most of the projects I also have collaborators within Physics. In soft matter, I am interested in liquid crystals and related materials. Currently together with M. E. Cates, K. Stratford and O. Henrich we are developing large scale simulation methods to study emulsions (droplets of water in liquid crystals, or of liquid crystals in water), as well as colloid-liquid crystal composites (also with experimentalists in the group, P. S. Clegg, T. A. Wood, A. C. Pawsey and W. C. K. Poon among others). Projects of interest address the phase beheviour, hydrodynamics, rheology and electric-field switching of these liquid crystal based materials.

[2026] Geometry and relaxation dynamics of nematic loops [2026] Spontaneous phase separation and pattern formation in a lyotropic nematic mixture [2026] Passive polymers in active turbulence undergo a collapse-stretch transition [2025] Clifford algebras and liquid crystalline fermions [2025] Bridging-Induced Phase Separation and Loop Extrusion Drive Noise in Chromatin Transcription