Self-Organization, Memory, and Learning: From Driven Disordered Systems to Living Matter
Year: 2025
Type: review
Abstract: Disordered systems subject to a fluctuating environment can self-organize into a complex history-dependent response, retaining a memory of the driving. In sheared amorphous solids, self-organization is established by the emergence of a persistent system of mechanical instabilities that can repeatedly be triggered by the driving, leading to a state of high mechanical reversibility. As a result of self-organization, the response of the system becomes correlated with the dynamics of its environment, which can be viewed as a sensing mechanism of the system's environment. Such phenomena emerge across a wide variety of soft matter systems, suggesting that they are generic and, hence, may depend very little on the underlying specifics. We review self-organization in driven amorphous solids, concluding with a discussion of what self-organization in driven disordered systems can teach us about how simple organisms sense and adapt to their changing environments.
Authors: Muhittin Mungan, Eric Clément, Damien Vandembroucq, Srikanth Sastry
Institutions: University of Cologne, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Universitaire de France, Université Paris Cité, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Sorbonne Université, Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, ESPCI Paris, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7116192836