Design of Driven Systems

The seminar “Design of Driven Systems” will address one of the central challenges of modern physics: understanding and controlling systems far from thermal equilibrium. Driven systems - ranging from periodically modulated quantum materials to active and biological matter - exhibit collective phenomena and functionalities that cannot emerge in equilibrium, including engineered interactions, nonreciprocal dynamics, and self-organization. Recent advances in Floquet engineering, active matter, and nonequilibrium many-body physics have revealed deep conceptual connections between quantum systems, photonics, condensed matter, and biological physics.

The seminar will bring together leading international researchers from theory and experiment to discuss current developments and future perspectives in this rapidly evolving field. Topics will include periodically and strongly driven quantum systems, nonreciprocal interactions and active dynamics, driven photonic and quantum platforms, and biological systems operating far from equilibrium. Particular emphasis will be placed on identifying universal principles shared across these traditionally separated disciplines and on understanding how nonequilibrium conditions can be harnessed to design new forms of matter and functionality.

Through invited talks, poster sessions, and topical discussions, the seminar aims to foster interdisciplinary exchange between researchers in quantum physics, condensed-matter physics, photonics, and biophysics. We especially welcome early-career researchers, and aim to provide a forum to exchange ideas, discuss emerging directions, and stimulate new collaborations in the field of driven matter.

The conference language will be English. The Wilhelm and Else Heraeus-Foundation bears the cost of full-board accommodation for all participants.