EXTERNAL SEMINAR - Ricard Alert (Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems)

Ricard Alert (Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Jean-François Rupprecht (CPT).

Location: Hexagone Auditorium
Date: 01.12.2025
Time: 4:00 PM

CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09

Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024

Title: Capillary aggregation and surface waves in bacterial colonies

Abstract:
Many bacteria inhabit hydrated environments like soil, textiles and agar hydrogels in the lab. In these environments, cells are surrounded by a water meniscus. First, I will show that the resulting capillary forces organize bacterial colonies, enabling cells to aggregate into densely packed nematic layers while still allowing them to slide past one another. Second, I will show that, when these bacterial colonies form thick multilayered films, they exhibit active surface waves. These results suggest that capillary forces may be a ubiquitous physical ingredient in shaping microbial communities in partially hydrated environments.