Instruct: Identify the main and secondary category of Arxiv papers based on the titles and abstracts
Query: Theory of droplet ripening in stiffness gradients   Liquid-liquid phase separation is an important mechanism for
compartmentalizing the cell's cytoplasm, allowing the dynamic organization of
the components necessary for survival. However, it is not clear how phase
separation is affected by the complex viscoelastic environment inside the cell.
Here, we study theoretically how stiffness gradients influence droplet growth
and arrangement. We show that stiffness gradients imply concentration gradients
in the dilute phase, which transport droplet material from stiff to soft
regions. Consequently, droplets dissolve in the stiff region, creating a
dissolution front. Using a mean-field theory, we predict that the front emerges
where the curvature of the elasticity profile is large and that it propagates
diffusively. This elastic ripening can occur at much faster rates than
classical Ostwald ripening, thus driving the dynamics. Our work shows how
gradients in elastic properties control the size and arrangement of droplets,
which has potential applications in soft matter physics and plays a role inside
biological cells.

9
The categories of this paper are: nlin
29
The categories of this paper are: funct-an
31
The categories of this paper are: ao-sci
20
The categories of this paper are: acc-phys
2
The categories of this paper are: math
12
The categories of this paper are: nucl-th
10
The categories of this paper are: q-bio
21
The categories of this paper are: adap-org
8
The categories of this paper are: hep-ex
28
The categories of this paper are: alg-geom
1
The categories of this paper are: cs
30
The categories of this paper are: q-alg
24
The categories of this paper are: dg-ga
26
The categories of this paper are: bayes-an
14
The categories of this paper are: math-ph
5
The categories of this paper are: gr-qc