Active matter is a class of physical systems that exhibit rich collective behaviours such as phase separation in the absence of attractive interactions, flocking and swarming, collective actuation in activated solids, and active turbulence. In these systems constituents, which may include suspensions of biological cells and bacteria, chemically coated colloids and polymers, and animals and robots, constantly turnover energy to sustain stochastic and collective dynamical states and as such are inherently nonequilibrium, thus presenting many challenges to existing ideas and techniques in statistical mechanics. For example, activation of constituents typically leads to anomalous diffusion, in contrast to the majority of passive systems that can be described using simple ``Fickian'' diffusion models. A recent theoretical challenge is in deriving frameworks to predict the optimal (and efficient) control of active matter far from equilibrium. A straightforward departure from equilibrium statistical mechanics is the time irreversibility of the dynamics of the constituents that, in turn, leads to non-universality of the Boltzmann distribution and the absence of a state function. One approach to help overcome the theoretical challenges in describing and understanding active matter is to build and to strengthen bridges between communities in theoretical and computational condensed matter physics, biophysics, and stochastic processes. This one-day workshop will facilitate the dissemination of the physics and mathematics of stochastic systems in the context of active matter.

(Abstract submission [CLOSED] and registration link [CLOSED] )