Berlin 2024 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 32: Poster: Active Matter, Soft Matter, Fluids

DY 32.12: Poster

Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 15:00–18:00, Poster C

Active fractalytes — •Sebastian Fehlinger and Benno Liebchen — Institut für Physik kondensierter Materie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstraße 8, D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany

Non-reciprocal interactions occur widely in nature. For the specific case of a binary mixture of passive particles, where one species non-reciprocally attracts the other one, the breaking of the action reaction principle can lead to formation of active colloidal molecules which are capable of self-propulsion. For small systems, such active molecules have already been realized in experiments [1,2]. The focus of the present work is to understand the collective behavior of many active molecules. Using particle based simulations, in a wide range of the parameter space, we find that active molecules self-organize into ballistically moving structures that feature holes, gaps and a fractal dimension. We call them active fractalytes [3]. Besides structural properties, which clearly distinguish them from aggregates emerging from diffusion-limited aggregation, we analyze the dynamics and the scaling properties of active fractalytes and complement our work with a continuum theory.

[1] F. Schmidt et al. J. Chem. Phys. 150, 094905 (2019).

[2] J. Grauer et al. Nat. Commun. 12, 6005 (2021)

[3] S. Fehlinger, B. Liebchen. Phys. Rev. Res. 5, L032038 (2023).

Keywords: non-reciprocal interactions; fractals; active molecules; pattern formation