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We are pleased to announce a one-day Mini-Workshop on the Rheology of Dense Materials, to be held at the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, on March 18, 2026. This meeting brings together an international group of researchers working on the physics of complex particulate and driven systems, spanning granular matter, active materials, nonequilibrium effects, and related theoretical frameworks. The workshop coincides with the visit of Professor Prabhu Nott (Indian Institute of Science), a leading expert in colloidal science.
Athermal particle systems — collections of macroscopic particles such as grains, sands, and suspensions that do not equilibrate thermally — exhibit rich rheological and dynamical behavior. Understanding and controlling these systems is a fundamental challenge with implications across physics, materials science, chemical and mechanical engineering, and geosciences.
The program features invited presentations that highlight current advances in both theory and experiment:
Professor Prabhu Nott will share insights from his work in colloidal and particulate rheology.
We will discuss recent developments on the Mpemba effect — the counterintuitive phenomenon in which a system initially at a higher temperature can cool faster than one at a lower temperature under certain conditions.
One speaker will speak on the surface tension of active matter, exploring emergent interfacial phenomena in driven systems far from equilibrium.
Another speaker will present on the Ginzburg-Landau theory of dense granular matter, offering a theoretical perspective on collective behavior and structural transitions.
The other speaker will highlight her latest work on carrier dynamics in model superionic conductors, as detailed in her recent preprint on anharmonic and heterogeneous motion across sublattice melting.
This mini-workshop aims to foster interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration among participants working on a broad range of nonequilibrium and dense matter problems.