Séminaire de l’Institut Jacques Monod – Nikta Fakhri

Invitée par l’équipe Ladoux/Mege, Nikta Fakhri (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) ) présentera un séminaire de l’Institut Jacques Monod sur le thème :

Thermodynamics of collective behavior

Résumé :

Living systems are active matter: assemblies of molecules, cells, and organisms that continuously consume energy to generate motion, forces, and collective organization. This persistent dissipation breaks time-reversal symmetry, giving rise to a physical arrow of time that shapes the behavior of living matter.

In this talk, I will explore irreversibility not merely as a signature of biological activity, but as a resource for collective organization and reliable decision-making. Drawing on experiments and theory, I will show how nonequilibrium interactions and probability flows shape collective response and direct transitions between states, revealing thermodynamic constraints linking accuracy, speed, and energetic cost.

From living chiral crystals and odd elasticity to biological decision-making and multicellular organization, this work advances a thermodynamic understanding of how living systems organize and navigate possible futures.