Metastability in Wetting Phenomena
When a droplet of water is placed on a surface, it can behave in remarkably different ways: it might spread out into a thin film or remain compact in a spherical shape. These distinct configurations are associated with hydrophilic and hydrophobic wetting states. Intriguingly, some surfaces exhibit metastability, where the final wetting state depends on the initial conditions—such as how the droplet is deposited—allowing for multiple stable or quasi-stable states to coexist.
What surface characteristics give rise to this behavior? And how can we characterize and understand the transitions between these competing wetting states? In this seminar, I will explore these questions by presenting a theoretical framework and numerical simulations that offer powerful tools for probing the metastable landscape of wetting phenomena.
Short bio: Carolina Brito is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Physics of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil. She holds a BSc, MSc, and PhD in Physics, and has conducted postdoctoral research at CEA-Saclay (France) and Leiden University (The Netherlands). In 2018, she was a visiting professor at EPFL (Switzerland). She is a CNPq Level-1D Research Productivity Fellow, with research focusing on complex systems, amorphous materials, and superhydrophobic surfaces. Carolina is a Regular Associate of the ICTP-Abdus Salam (2024–2029) and a Member of ICTP-SAIFR since 2023. She served on the Statistical Physics Commission (C3) of the IUPAP (2018–2024) and on the Council of the Brazilian Physical Society (2023–2025). She co-produces the podcast Fronteiras da Ciência and coordinates the outreach programs “Meninas na Ciência” and “Lugar de Mulher”, which promote the participation of women in science and technology.
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