Interface dynamics: Bridging stochastic and hydrodynamic descriptions (C02)

• Subject Area: Mathematics ; Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: since 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 235221301

In order to address the fundamentals of airborne infection pathways, we will investigate the evaporation and sedimentation dynamics of single and clouds of droplets as a function of the initial droplet radius and solute type and concentration, temperature and relative humidity. We will focus on the possibility of evaporation-induced phase separation inside the droplet and formation of a solute-rich crust. For this, we will develop numerical and mathematical models that account for the coupled and concentration-dependent diffusion of water and solutes inside droplets in the presence of interactions and for the condensation and evaporation dynamics at the droplet surface. Mathematical investigations will be based on stochastic lattice models with exclusion processes, the derivation of their hydrodynamic limit and large deviations principles, and the study of the deterministic limit system via nonlinear PDE-theory.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1114: Scaling Cascades in Complex Systems
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Alexander Mielke, until 6/2022; Professor Dr. Roland Netz; Dr. Robert Patterson, from 7/2022 until 2/2024; Professorin Dr. Marita Thomas, since 7/2022