Giacomo Bartolucci

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The thermodynamics of liquid mixtures has recently seen renewed interest following the discovery of membrane-less compartments in the cell cytoplasm. These compartments are believed to form through phase separation and are linked to several essential cellular functions. Following this discovery, the fascinating hypothesis that phase separation could have occurred in the primordial soup, originally proposed by Oparin and Haldane, got reignited, suggesting a role for phase separation at the origin of life. In this colloquium, I will introduce a minimal framework for describing phase separation in mixtures where the components undergo active chemical reactions. I will then show how we used concept from thermodynamics to characterise the phase behaviour of a traditional pasta sauce, named Cacio e Pepe. For this extravagant project, my coworkers and I
received the 2025 physics IG nobel prize. Therefore, I will conclude by sharing some anecdotes about the prize and the ceremony.

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Faculty of Physics of the University of Barcelona
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Contact: Silvia Pappalardi