Path-dependency and emergent computing under vectorial driving

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Meulblok, Colin M., Singh, Amitesh, Labousse, Matthieu, van Hecke, Martin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Meulblok, Colin M.
Singh, Amitesh
Labousse, Matthieu
van Hecke, Martin
author_facet Meulblok, Colin M.
Singh, Amitesh
Labousse, Matthieu
van Hecke, Martin
contents The sequential response of frustrated materials - ranging from crumpled sheets and amorphous media to metamaterials - reveals their memory effects and emergent computational potential. Despite their spatial extension, most studies rely on a single global stimulus, such as compression, effectively reducing the problem to scalar driving. Here, we introduce vectorial driving by applying multiple spatially localized stimuli to explore path-dependent, sequential responses. We uncover a wealth of phenomena absent in scalar driving, including non-Abelian responses, mixed-mode behavior, and chiral loop transients. We find that such path dependencies arise from elementary motifs linked to fold singularities, which connect triplets of states - ancestor, descendant, and sibling; and develop a general framework using pt-graphs to describe responses under any vectorial driving protocol. Leveraging binarized vectorial driving, we establish a natural connection to computation, showing that a single sample can encode multiple sequential Boolean circuits, which are selectable by driving strength and reprogrammable via additional inputs. Finally, we introduce graph-based motifs to manage the complexity of high-dimensional driving. Our work paves the way for strategies to explore, harness, and understand complex materials and memory, while advancing embodied intelligence and in-materia computing.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_07764
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Path-dependency and emergent computing under vectorial driving
Meulblok, Colin M.
Singh, Amitesh
Labousse, Matthieu
van Hecke, Martin
Soft Condensed Matter
The sequential response of frustrated materials - ranging from crumpled sheets and amorphous media to metamaterials - reveals their memory effects and emergent computational potential. Despite their spatial extension, most studies rely on a single global stimulus, such as compression, effectively reducing the problem to scalar driving. Here, we introduce vectorial driving by applying multiple spatially localized stimuli to explore path-dependent, sequential responses. We uncover a wealth of phenomena absent in scalar driving, including non-Abelian responses, mixed-mode behavior, and chiral loop transients. We find that such path dependencies arise from elementary motifs linked to fold singularities, which connect triplets of states - ancestor, descendant, and sibling; and develop a general framework using pt-graphs to describe responses under any vectorial driving protocol. Leveraging binarized vectorial driving, we establish a natural connection to computation, showing that a single sample can encode multiple sequential Boolean circuits, which are selectable by driving strength and reprogrammable via additional inputs. Finally, we introduce graph-based motifs to manage the complexity of high-dimensional driving. Our work paves the way for strategies to explore, harness, and understand complex materials and memory, while advancing embodied intelligence and in-materia computing.
title Path-dependency and emergent computing under vectorial driving
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.07764