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Dissipative adaptation in driven self-assembly

Nature Nanotechnology volume 10, pages 919–923 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

In a collection of assembling particles that is allowed to reach thermal equilibrium, the energy of a given microscopic arrangement and the probability of observing the system in that arrangement obey a simple exponential relationship known as the Boltzmann distribution. Once the same thermally fluctuating particles are driven away from equilibrium by forces that do work on the system over time, however, it becomes significantly more challenging to relate the likelihood of a given outcome to familiar thermodynamic quantities. Nonetheless, it has long been appreciated that developing a sound and general understanding of the thermodynamics of such non-equilibrium scenarios could ultimately enable us to control and imitate the marvellous successes that living things achieve in driven self-assembly. Here, I suggest that such a theoretical understanding may at last be emerging, and trace its development from historic first steps to more recent discoveries. Focusing on these newer results, I propose that they imply a general thermodynamic mechanism for self-organization via dissipation of absorbed work that may be applicable in a broad class of driven many-body systems.

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Figure 1: Assembly probability in the presence of thermal fluctuations.
Figure 2: Dynamical irreversibility and heat production.
Figure 3: Driven barrier hopping.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks the Cabot family for its generous support, and A. Bausch and Z. Dogic for helpful discussion.

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  1. Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Physics of Living Systems Group, 400 Tech Square, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    Jeremy L. England

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Correspondence to Jeremy L. England.

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England, J. Dissipative adaptation in driven self-assembly. Nature Nanotech 10, 919–923 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.250

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