Research

I earned my Ph.D. from IIT Bombay, INDIA, where I specialized in coarse-grained modeling and Langevin/Brownian dynamics simulations. My research focuses on the dynamics of both passive and active probe particles in complex environments. 

As part of my Ph.D. research, I explore how particles navigate complex, crowded environments—much like proteins, bacteria, or synthetic nanomotors moving inside living cells. My work lies at the intersection of active matter, soft condensed matter, and biological physics, with a focus on uncovering the physical principles governing transport and collective behavior.

Using large-scale simulations, I study how tracer particles move through polymer networks and gel-like media, which serve as minimal models of cellular environments. For passive probes, I show that increasing network rigidity, binding affinity, or particle size leads to strongly constrained, subdiffusive, and non-Gaussian motion, often accompanied by signatures such as negative velocity correlations. Interestingly, when the particle size becomes comparable to the network mesh size, flexible networks can be dynamically remodeled by the probe, enabling unexpected long-range transport—a feature that disappears in stiffer systems.

Moving beyond passive systems, I investigate self-propelled particles and rigid dumbbells, revealing how activity fundamentally alters transport. I demonstrate that chemical asymmetry and propulsion direction can significantly enhance mobility, enabling particles to escape local trapping and move efficiently across network meshes. These systems exhibit rich non-equilibrium behavior, including enhanced diffusion, intermittent trapping–escape dynamics, and multi-modal displacement statistics.

I further examine transport in confined and heterogeneous geometries, where self-propelled tracers and nanorods must navigate narrow openings—situations relevant to intracellular trafficking and transport through biological pores. Here, activity induces striking transitions from subdiffusion to superdiffusion, promotes escape, and generates multiple dynamical timescales and complex spatial organization.

I also study motility-induced phase separation (MIPS) in disordered environments, highlighting how obstacles and confinement reshape clustering, phase behavior, and emergent structures in active systems.