More is less in unpercolated active solids

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Binysh, Jack, Baardink, Guido, Veenstra, Jonas, Coulais, Corentin, Souslov, Anton
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866910167780556800
author Binysh, Jack
Baardink, Guido
Veenstra, Jonas
Coulais, Corentin
Souslov, Anton
author_facet Binysh, Jack
Baardink, Guido
Veenstra, Jonas
Coulais, Corentin
Souslov, Anton
contents A remarkable feat of active matter physics is that systems as diverse as collections of self-propelled particles, nematics mixed with molecular motors, and interacting robots can all be described by symmetry-based continuum theories. These descriptions rely on reducing complex effects of individual motors to a few key active parameters, which increase with activity. Here we discover a striking anomaly in the continuum description of non-reciprocal active solids, a ubiquitous class of active materials. We find that as microscopic activity increases, macroscale active response can vanish: more is less. In this highly active regime, non-affine and localized modes prevail and destroy the large-scale signature of microscopic activity. These modes exist in any dilute periodic structure and emerge in random lattices below a percolation transition. Our results unveil a counterintuitive facet of active matter, offering new principles for engineering materials far from equilibrium.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_18362
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle More is less in unpercolated active solids
Binysh, Jack
Baardink, Guido
Veenstra, Jonas
Coulais, Corentin
Souslov, Anton
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
A remarkable feat of active matter physics is that systems as diverse as collections of self-propelled particles, nematics mixed with molecular motors, and interacting robots can all be described by symmetry-based continuum theories. These descriptions rely on reducing complex effects of individual motors to a few key active parameters, which increase with activity. Here we discover a striking anomaly in the continuum description of non-reciprocal active solids, a ubiquitous class of active materials. We find that as microscopic activity increases, macroscale active response can vanish: more is less. In this highly active regime, non-affine and localized modes prevail and destroy the large-scale signature of microscopic activity. These modes exist in any dilute periodic structure and emerge in random lattices below a percolation transition. Our results unveil a counterintuitive facet of active matter, offering new principles for engineering materials far from equilibrium.
title More is less in unpercolated active solids
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.18362