These directly encode microscopic interactions between constituents and are therefore convenient to simulate, although scaling to biological length and timescales is challenging.

A first-principles theory for studying the glassy dynamics of dense physical systems which, by incorporating activity, promises new insights into the behaviour of highly crowded biological assemblies.

A mesoscopic description obtained by coarse-graining particle-based models, although no reliable systematic way to do so for driven systems has yet been found.

A typically non-linear deterministic macroscopic theory that arises in certain limits of stochastic field theories.

A characterisation of a complex system through singularities in a particle orientation field that is relevant to the material’s function.

Choices of external parameters or driving protocols that transform a system’s state in the most efficient way.

The extension of thermodynamic concepts of heat and work to microscopically-driven systems, providing a route to a robust characteristation.

Typically minimal models with limited complexity but offer considerable mathematical and theoretical insight into the phenomenon at hand.

A reliable and transparent approach to implementing particle-based models.

Appropriate for the study of stochastic field theories and continuum mechanical models.

An alternative to traditional model building, inferring model structure from experimental data rather than being prescribed at the outset.