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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 24: Focus Session: New Trends in Nonequilibrium Physics – Conservation Laws and Nonreciprocal Interactions I

DY 24.11: Talk

Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 12:30–12:45, BH-N 243

Escaping kinetic traps using non-reciprocal interactions — Saeed Osat¹, •Jakob Metson¹, Mehran Kardar², and Ramin Golestanian^1,3 — ¹Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS), 37077 Göttingen, Germany — ²Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States — ³Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom

A prominent problem for systems trying to find a global energy minimum is getting trapped in deep local minima. In this work we show that by using non-reciprocal interactions we can drive systems out of these kinetic traps to end up at a global minimum. We use multifarious self-assembly as a model system, where systems are designed to store and assemble multiple different structures. Firstly we demonstrate that by introducing non-reciprocal interactions we enable systems to escape from chimeric states (kinetic traps), which with only reciprocal interactions are practically impossible to escape from. Then we look in more detail at the escape dynamics in our model system. The principle escape mechanism is interface growth. We find that the interface dynamics in our non-reciprocal system falls into the KPZ universality class. Furthermore, we study escape via spiraling point defects. These can either annihilate pairwise, leaving the system trapped, or reach the boundary of the structure which leads to successful escape. Although we focus on multifarious self-assembly as a model system, in principle these ideas can be applied to a wide range of complex systems, being particularly impactful for systems with rough energy landscapes.

Keywords: non-reciprocal; kinetic traps; self-assembly; escape