Modeling And sImulation of emulsiOns (MAIO)

Emulsions are complex systems that are commonly encountered in our daily lives, from drinking a cup of cappuccino to drizzling mayonnaise on fries to applying cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Although at first look, emulsions might look similar to common fluids, under the veil of emulsions, a complex and rich physics is hidden. These systems are indeed formed by closely packed droplets of a liquid suspended in another liquid phase. The investigation of emulsions poses many outstanding scientific challenges, which originate from the multi-scale character of these systems and the strong coupling between microscopic and macroscopic phenomena. The project MAIO aims to investigate emulsion physics by leveraging an innovative interdisciplinary approach that combines numerical simulations, micro-scale physics and computer science. The key idea is to combine an approach where the motion of each droplet is individually captured with models that account for the micro- scale physics controlling droplet-droplet interactions. The time required for the execution of this complex algorithm will be drastically reduced by exploiting cutting edge computing infrastructures. The new knowledge gained within the project MAIO will have a long-term positive impact on a broad range of scientific fields, from fluid dynamics, to computer science and applied mathematics and will be also beneficial for industrial applications. Finally, MAIO will foster strategic partnerships in collaborative research as it foresees the collaboration of Prof. Casciola from the University of Rome La Sapienza.