Speaker: Dr. Nikta Fakhri
Host: Shila Banerjee
Title: Broken Symmetries in Living Matter
Abstract: Active processes in living systems give rise to a unique class of nonequilibrium matter, characterized by numerous interacting components that continuously consume energy, generating motion and mechanical stress. In this talk, I will present a range of experimental tools and theoretical frameworks that we have developed to identify and understand the fundamental laws governing fluctuations, order, and self-organization in such systems. Specifically, I will focus on systems where individual components break time-reversal symmetry, exploring how this breaking leads to emergent behaviors across scales. From the thermodynamic arrow of time to the spatiotemporal organization of signaling protein patterns and the discovery of odd elasticity, these frameworks provide profound insights into the dynamics of living matter, revealing new principles that drive biological complexity.
Bio: Nikta Fakhri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at MIT and Physics of Living Systems Group. She completed her undergraduate degree at Sharif University of Technology and her PhD at Rice University. She was a Human Frontier Science Program postdoctoral fellow at Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen, Germany before joining MIT.
Event Details
Date/Time:
-
Date:Monday, October 20, 2025 - 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Location:
Krone Engineered Biosystems Building-EBB 1st floor CHOA Seminar room
