Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
Toulouse - UMR 5152

One of the classical themes of complex systems concerns the question of how non-trivial behavior emerges when elementary units assemble and interact with each other. In particular, new phenomena can be found when these units are able to switch between several configurational states. I will discuss two peculiar cases in which coupled nonlinear momoners form larger-scale (quasi-)polymers exhibiting collective modes. These modes give rise to a behavior radically different from that of semiflexible beams, in particular when the (quasi-)polymer is in contact with a membrane.