Vitelli Group

The Vitelli group

Pattern formation by non-dissipative arrest of turbulent cascades

Spiking at the edge

Informational active matter

Non-reciprocal phase transitions

Data-driven biophysical modeling

Building mechanical metamaterials out of LEGO

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The research interests of the group span several areas at the interface between science, engineering and applied mathematics. Recent work encompasses biophysics, active matter, machine learning, robotics, metamaterials, topological insulators, hydrodynamics, dynamical systems and soft materials. Often the rich phenomenology of these complex systems arises from the interplay between strong non-linearities, disorder and dynamics far from equilibrium that we explore using analytical and numerical tools in close collaboration with experimentalists.

Selected Recent Publications

• Adaptive locomotion of active solids, Jonas Veenstra, Colin Scheibner, Martin Brandenbourger, Jack Binysh, Anton Souslov, Vincenzo Vitelli, Corentin Coulais, Nature 639, 935–941 (2025).
• Learning dynamical behaviors in physical systems, Rituparno Mandal, Rosalind Huang, Michel Fruchart, Pepijn G. Moerman, Suriyanarayanan Vaikuntanathan, Arvind Murugan, Vincenzo Vitelli, arXiv:2406.07856.
• Odd viscosity suppresses intermittency in direct turbulent cascades, Sihan Chen, Xander M. de Wit, Michel Fruchart, Federico Toschi, Vincenzo Vitelli, Physical Review Letters 133, 144002 (2024), arXiv:2404.18894.
• Interpreting neural operators: how nonlinear waves propagate in non-reciprocal solids, Jonathan Colen, Alexis Poncet, Denis Bartolo, Vincenzo Vitelli, Physical Review Letters 133, 107301 (2024), arXiv:2404.12918.
• Sociohydrodynamics: data-driven modelling of social behavior, Daniel S. Seara, Jonathan Colen, Michel Fruchart, Yael Avni, David Martin, Vincenzo Vitelli, arXiv:2312.17627.
• Learning a conserved mechanism for early neuroectoderm morphogenesis, Matthew F. Lefebvre, Jonathan Colen, Nikolas H. Claussen, Fridtjof Brauns, Marion K. Raich, Noah Mitchell, Michel Fruchart, Vincenzo Vitelli, Sebastian J. Streichan, bioRxiv.
• Information theory for data-driven model reduction in physics and biology, Matthew S. Schmitt, Maciej Koch-Janusz, Michel Fruchart, Daniel S. Seara, Vincenzo Vitelli, arXiv:2312.06608.
• Nonreciprocal Ising model, Yael Avni, Michel Fruchart, David Martin, Daniel Seara, Vincenzo Vitelli, Physical Review Letters 134, 117103 (2025), arXiv:2311.05471.
• Pattern formation by turbulent cascades, Xander M. de Wit, Michel Fruchart, Tali Khain, Federico Toschi, Vincenzo Vitelli, Nature 627, 515-521 (2024) arXiv:2304.10444.
• Spiking at the edge: Excitability at interfaces in reaction–diffusion systems, Colin Scheibner, Hillel Ori, Adam E. Cohen, Vincenzo Vitelli, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121, e2307996120 (2024), arXiv:2304.06940.
• Machine learning interpretable models of cell mechanics from protein images, Matthew S. Schmitt, Jonathan Colen, Stefano Sala, John Devany, Shailaja Seetharaman, Margaret L. Gardel, Patrick W. Oakes, Vincenzo Vitelli, Cell, 187(2), 481-494 (2024), arXiv:2303.00176.
• Informational active matter, Bryan VanSaders, Vincenzo Vitelli, arXiv:2302.07402.
• Odd Viscosity and Odd Elasticity, Michel Fruchart, Colin Scheibner, Vincenzo Vitelli, Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics 14, 471-510 (2023), arXiv:2207.00071.
• Coalescence of attractors: exceptional points in non-linear dynamical systems, Cheyne Weis, Michel Fruchart, Ryo Hanai, Kyle Kawagoe, Peter B. Littlewood, Vincenzo Vitelli, arXiv:2207.11667.
• The odd ideal gas: Hall viscosity and thermal conductivity from non-Hermitian kinetic theory, Michel Fruchart, Ming Han, Colin Scheibner, Vincenzo Vitelli, arXiv:2202.02037.
• Stokes flows in three-dimensional fluids with odd and parity-violating viscosities, Tali Khain, Colin Scheibner, Michel Fruchart, Vincenzo Vitelli, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 934, (2022), arXiv:2011.07681.
• Non-reciprocal phase transitions, Michel Fruchart, Ryo Hanai, Peter B. Littlewood, Vincenzo Vitelli, Nature 592, 363--369 (2021).
• Machine learning active-nematic hydrodynamics, Jonathan Colen, Ming Han, Rui Zhang, Steven A. Redford, Linnea M. Lemma, Link Morgan, Paul V. Ruijgrok, Raymond Adkins, Zev Bryant, Zvonimir Dogic, Margaret L. Gardel, Juan J. de Pablo, Vincenzo Vitelli, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118, e2016708118 (2021).
• Symmetries and Dualities in the Theory of Elasticity, Michel Fruchart, Vincenzo Vitelli, Physical Review Letters 124, 248001 (2020).
• Dualities and non-Abelian mechanics, Michel Fruchart, Yujie Zhou, Vincenzo Vitelli, Nature 577, 636--640 (2020).
• Odd elasticity, Colin Scheibner, Anton Souslov, Debarghya Banerjee, Piotr Surówka, William T. M. Irvine, Vincenzo Vitelli, Nature Physics 16, 475--480 (2020).
• Fluctuating hydrodynamics of chiral active fluids, Ming Han, Michel Fruchart, Colin Scheibner, Suriyanarayanan Vaikuntanathan, Juan J. de Pablo, Vincenzo Vitelli, Nature Physics 17, 1260–1269 (2021).
• Topological Protection Can Arise from Thermal Fluctuations and Interactions, Ricardo Pablo Pedro, Jayson Paulose, Anton Souslov, Mildred Dresselhaus, Vincenzo Vitelli, Physical Review Letters 122, 118001 (2019).
• Topological waves in fluids with odd viscosity, Anton Souslov, Kinjal Dasbiswas, Michel Fruchart, Suriyanarayanan Vaikuntanathan, Vincenzo Vitelli, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 128001 (2019).
• Topological sound in active-liquid metamaterials, Anton Souslov, Benjamin C. van Zuiden, Denis Bartolo, Vincenzo Vitelli, Nature Physics 13, 1091--1094 (2017).
• Odd viscosity in chiral active fluids, Debarghya Banerjee, Anton Souslov, Alexander G. Abanov, Vincenzo Vitelli, Nature Communications 8, (2017).
• Spatiotemporal order and emergent edge currents in active spinner materials, Benjamin C. van Zuiden, Jayson Paulose, William T. M. Irvine, Denis Bartolo, Vincenzo Vitelli, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113, 12919-12924 (2016).
• Geared Topological Metamaterials with Tunable Mechanical Stability, Anne S. Meeussen, Jayson Paulose, Vincenzo Vitelli, Phys. Rev. X 6, 041029 (2016).
• Selective buckling via states of self-stress in topological metamaterials, Jayson Paulose, Anne S. Meeussen, Vincenzo Vitelli, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, 7639-7644 (2015).
• Topological modes bound to dislocations in mechanical metamaterials, Jayson Paulose, Bryan G. Chen, Vincenzo Vitelli, Nature Physics 11, 153--156 (2015).
• Nonlinear conduction via solitons in a topological mechanical insulator, Bryan G. Chen, Nitin Upadhyaya, Vincenzo Vitelli, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, 13004-13009 (2014).