Active matter systems are made up of units that transfer other type of energy into mechanical work. Many new collective behaviors were found in these system, such as swarming, clustering, and motility induced phase separation. By studying the behaviors that emerge, new frameworks of statistical physics of out-of-equilibrium systems can be built.
In our lab, we study the collective behavior of two dimensional dynamic clustering by induced-charge electrophoresis driven active particles. we also study the Non-Boltzmann statistical physics of an active particle in optical trap.