Chaos-generating periodic orbits of topological defects in confined active nematics
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866917316327899136 |
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| author | Klein, Brandon Franco, Alejandro J. Soto Sabbir, Md Mainul Hasan Deutsch, Matthew J. Kliegman, Ross Selinger, Robin L. B. Mitchell, Kevin A. Beller, Daniel A. |
| author_facet | Klein, Brandon Franco, Alejandro J. Soto Sabbir, Md Mainul Hasan Deutsch, Matthew J. Kliegman, Ross Selinger, Robin L. B. Mitchell, Kevin A. Beller, Daniel A. |
| contents | Active nematics in two dimensions stir themselves efficiently through internally generated chaotic flows, largely driven by motile $+1/2$ disclinations. We investigate how this tendency toward chaotic fluid stirring can, counterintuitively, produce certain ordered, periodic flows in confinement, characterized by stable periodic orbits of $+1/2$ disclinations. We computationally study two-dimensional active nematics in systems with boundary conditions requiring a prescribed number $n$ of excess $+1/2$ disclinations, using Beris-Edwards nematohydrodynamics simulations alongside an agent-based simulation approach. We find that when confinement is sufficiently strong to prevent defect pair-nucleation, but not strong enough to arrest all flow, then $n=3$ defects generically follow a "golden braid" orbit as observed recently in experiments, and we predict a "silver braid" orbit of $n=4$ defects. For these results and for greater numbers of defects, we show that the periodic or chaotic nature of the dynamics is determined by a balance between the number of defects and the number of vortices in the flow field, suggesting a new design criterion for ordered flows in active nematics. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_10880 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Chaos-generating periodic orbits of topological defects in confined active nematics Klein, Brandon Franco, Alejandro J. Soto Sabbir, Md Mainul Hasan Deutsch, Matthew J. Kliegman, Ross Selinger, Robin L. B. Mitchell, Kevin A. Beller, Daniel A. Soft Condensed Matter Active nematics in two dimensions stir themselves efficiently through internally generated chaotic flows, largely driven by motile $+1/2$ disclinations. We investigate how this tendency toward chaotic fluid stirring can, counterintuitively, produce certain ordered, periodic flows in confinement, characterized by stable periodic orbits of $+1/2$ disclinations. We computationally study two-dimensional active nematics in systems with boundary conditions requiring a prescribed number $n$ of excess $+1/2$ disclinations, using Beris-Edwards nematohydrodynamics simulations alongside an agent-based simulation approach. We find that when confinement is sufficiently strong to prevent defect pair-nucleation, but not strong enough to arrest all flow, then $n=3$ defects generically follow a "golden braid" orbit as observed recently in experiments, and we predict a "silver braid" orbit of $n=4$ defects. For these results and for greater numbers of defects, we show that the periodic or chaotic nature of the dynamics is determined by a balance between the number of defects and the number of vortices in the flow field, suggesting a new design criterion for ordered flows in active nematics. |
| title | Chaos-generating periodic orbits of topological defects in confined active nematics |
| topic | Soft Condensed Matter |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.10880 |