Participants

Yael Avni

Yael Avni is a postdoctoral fellow at the James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, working under the guidance of Prof. Vincenzo Vitelli. Her research focuses on developing statistical mechanical models to understand many-body systems out of thermodynamic equilibrium, drawing inspiration from complex and living matter such as macromolecules, cells, and humans. Her recent work introduced a minimal model for non-reciprocal interactions in many-body systems: an Ising model with two spin species having opposing goals. The study demonstrated the existence of stable, time-dependent states induced by non-reciprocity in three dimensions, and provided insights into the phase transitions associated with these states.

Yael received her PhD from Tel Aviv University where she studied theory of charged soft matter such as colloids, gels, and ionic solutions. In one of her works, she calculated the conductivity of concentrated electrolytes using stochastic density functional theory. Prior to that, she completed her MSc in Physics at the Weizmann Institute in Israel.