Publications

* Equal contributions

Dynamical arrest in active nematic turbulence

Ido Lavi, Ricard Alert, Jean-François Joanny, and Jaume Casademunt

arXiv:2407.15149 (2024)


Buckling by disordered growth

Rahul G. Ramachandran, Ricard Alert, and Pierre A. Haas

arXiv:2407.07540 (2024)


Capillary interactions drive the self-organization of bacterial colonies

Matthew E. Black*, Chenyi Fei*, Ricard Alert, Ned S. Wingreen, and Joshua W. Shaevitz

bioRxiv:2024.05.28.596252 (2024)


Nonlinear spontaneous flow instability in active nematics

Ido Lavi, Ricard Alert, Jean-François Joanny, and Jaume Casademunt

arXiv:2403.16841 (2024)


Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in developing Myxococcus xanthus colonies

Endao Han, Chenyi Fei, Ricard Alert, Katherine Copenhagen, Matthias D. Koch, Ned S. Wingreen, and Joshua W. Shaevitz

arxiv:2308.00368 (2023)


Frictiotaxis underlies adhesion-independent durotaxis

Adam Shellard*, Kai Weißenbruch*, Peter A.E. Hampshire, Namid R. Stillman, Christina Dix, Richard Thorogate, Albane Imbert, Guillaume Charras, Ricard Alert, and Roberto Mayor

bioRxiv:2023.06.01.543217 (2023)

 

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Optogenetic generation of leader cells reveals a force-velocity relation for collective cell migration

Leone Rossetti, Steffen Grosser, Juan Francisco Abenza, Léo Valon, Pere Roca-Cusachs, Ricard Alert, and Xavier Trepat

Nat. Phys. (2024)

 

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Flocking by Turning Away

Suchismita Das, Matteo Ciarchi, Ziqi Zhou, Jing Yan, Jie Zhang, and Ricard Alert

Phys. Rev. X 14, 031008 (2024)


World View: How to bridge the gap between theory and experiments in biological physics

Xavier Trepat and Ricard Alert

Nat. Phys. 19, 1738 (2023)


Curvature induces active velocity waves in rotating spherical tissues

Tom Brandstätter*, David B. Brückner*, Yu Long Han, Ricard Alert, Ming Guo, and Chase P. Broedersz

Nat. Commun. 14, 1643 (2023)


Stiffness-dependent active wetting enables optimal collective cell durotaxis

Macià-Esteve Pallarès*, Irina Pi-Jaumà*, Isabela C. Fortunato, Valeria Grazu, Manuel Gómez-González, Pere Roca-Cusachs, Jesus M. de la Fuente, Ricard Alert, Raimon Sunyer, Jaume Casademunt, and Xavier Trepat

Nat. Phys. 19, 279 (2023)

 

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Physics

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Self-assembly of tessellated tissue sheets by expansion and collision

Matthew A. Heinrich*, Ricard Alert*, Abraham E. Wolf*, Andrej Košmrlj, and Daniel J. Cohen

Nat. Commun. 13, 4026 (2022)


Fingering instability of active nematic droplets

Ricard Alert

J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 55, 234009 (2022)

Special issue "Emerging Talents 2021"


Cellular Sensing Governs the Stability of Chemotactic Fronts

Ricard Alert, Alejandro Martínez-Calvo, and Sujit S. Datta

Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 148101 (2022)

 

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Quanta Magazine

Tech and Science Post


Active Turbulence

Ricard Alert, Jaume Casademunt, and Jean-François Joanny

Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys. 13, 143 (2022)


Chemotactic smoothing of collective migration

Tapomoy Bhattacharjee*, Daniel B. Amchin*, Ricard Alert*, Jenna A. Ott, and Sujit S. Datta

eLife 11, e71226 (2022)

 

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Quanta Magazine

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Collective durotaxis of cohesive cell clusters on a stiffness gradient

Irina Pi-Jaumà, Ricard Alert, and Jaume Casademunt

Eur. Phys. J. E 45, 7 (2022)

Special issue "Tissue Mechanics"


Scaling Regimes of Active Turbulence with External Dissipation

Berta Martínez-Prat*, Ricard Alert*, Fanlong Meng, Jordi Ignés-Mullol, Jean-François Joanny, Jaume Casademunt, Ramin Golestanian, and Francesc Sagués

Phys. Rev. X 11, 031065 (2021)

 

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Morphogenesis and cell ordering in confined bacterial biofilms

Qiuting Zhang, Jian Li, Japinder Nijjer, Haoran Lu, Mrityunjay Kothari, Ricard Alert, Tal Cohen, and Jing Yan

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2107107118 (2021)


Living Cells on the Move

Ricard Alert and Xavier Trepat

Phys. Today 74(6), 30 (2021)


Active phase separation by turning towards regions of higher density

Jie Zhang*, Ricard Alert*, Jing Yan, Ned S. Wingreen, and Steve Granick

Nat. Phys. 17, 961 (2021)

 

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Biomedical picture of the day


Topological defects promote layer formation in Myxococcus xanthus colonies

Katherine Copenhagen*, Ricard Alert*, Ned S. Wingreen, and Joshua W. Shaevitz

Nat. Phys. 17, 211 (2021)

 

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Phys.org

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Size-dependent patterns of cell proliferation and migration in freely-expanding epithelia

Matthew A. Heinrich, Ricard Alert, Julienne M. LaChance, Tom J. Zajdel, Andrej Košmrlj, and Daniel J. Cohen

eLife 9, e58945 (2020)

 

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Nonuniform growth and surface friction determine bacterial biofilm morphology on soft substrates

Chenyi Fei, Sheng Mao, Jing Yan, Ricard Alert, Howard A. Stone, Bonnie L. Bassler, Ned S. Wingreen, and Andrej Košmrlj

Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 7622 (2020)

 

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Physical Models of Collective Cell Migration

Ricard Alert and Xavier Trepat

Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys. 11, 77 (2020)


Active Fingering Instability in Tissue Spreading

Ricard Alert, Carles Blanch-Mercader, and Jaume Casademunt

Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 088104 (2019)


Role of Substrate Stiffness in Tissue Spreading: Wetting Transition and Tissue Durotaxis

Ricard Alert and Jaume Casademunt

Langmuir 35, 7571 (2019)

Special issue "Interfaces and Biology"


Active wetting of epithelial tissues

Carlos Pérez-González*, Ricard Alert*, Carles Blanch-Mercader, Manuel Gómez-González, Tomasz Kolodziej, Elsa Bazellieres, Jaume Casademunt, and Xavier Trepat

Nat. Phys. 15, 79 (2019)

 

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Phys.org

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Mixed-order phase transition in a colloidal crystal

Ricard Alert, Pietro Tierno, and Jaume Casademunt

Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, 12906 (2017)

 

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Fluidization and Active Thinning by Molecular Kinetics in Active Gels

David Oriola*, Ricard Alert*, and Jaume Casademunt

Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 088002 (2017)


Emergent structures and dynamics of cell colonies by contact inhibition of locomotion

Bart Smeets, Ricard Alert, Jiri Pešek, Ignacio Pagonabarraga, Herman Ramon, and Romaric Vincent

Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 14621 (2016)

 

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Formation of metastable phases by spinodal decomposition

Ricard Alert, Pietro Tierno, and Jaume Casademunt

Nat. Commun. 7, 13067 (2016)

 

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Bleb Nucleation through Membrane Peeling

Ricard Alert and Jaume Casademunt

Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 068101 (2016)


Model for Probing Membrane-Cortex Adhesion by Micropipette Aspiration and Fluctuation Spectroscopy

Ricard Alert, Jaume Casademunt, Jan Brugués, and Pierre Sens

Biophys. J. 108, 1878 (2015)


Landscape-Inversion Phase Transition in Dipolar Colloids: Tuning the Structure and Dynamics of 2d Crystals

Ricard Alert, Jaume Casademunt, and Pietro Tierno

Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 198301 (2014)

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