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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10866 |
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| _version_ | 1866909689407602688 |
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| author | Tavera-Vázquez, Antonio Martin, David Ren, Haijie Rubin, Sam Córdoba, Andrés Zhang, Rui Vitelli, Vincenzo de Pablo, Juan J. |
| author_facet | Tavera-Vázquez, Antonio Martin, David Ren, Haijie Rubin, Sam Córdoba, Andrés Zhang, Rui Vitelli, Vincenzo de Pablo, Juan J. |
| contents | Motile living organisms routinely probe their surroundings to adapt in ever-evolving environments. Although synthetic microswimmers offer surrogates for self-propelled living entities, they often lack the complex feedback mechanisms that enable organisms to adapt. In this work, we present an experimental platform in which light-activated colloids dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal can (i) switch from directed to active Brownian motion depending on the nematic anchoring and (ii) mechanically adjust their motility in response to crowding, effectively enforcing quorum-sensing interactions. Both features are caused by a distinctive self-propulsion mechanism as unveiled through experiments, simulations, and theory. We characterize the dynamics of a single colloid and demonstrate that its motion is captured by an active Brownian particle model if the nematic anchoring is homeotropic, and by directed self-propulsion along the nematic director if the anchoring is planar. Next, we investigate the many-body dynamics, showing that it undergoes a clustering phase separation through effective quorum-sensing interactions. Our work suggests how to create adaptive materials with life-like capabilities using readily accessible properties of liquid crystals and colloids without explicitly engineering any of the needed mechano-chemical feedbacks. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_10866 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Quorum sensing of light-activated colloids in nematic liquid crystals Tavera-Vázquez, Antonio Martin, David Ren, Haijie Rubin, Sam Córdoba, Andrés Zhang, Rui Vitelli, Vincenzo de Pablo, Juan J. Soft Condensed Matter Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Materials Science Computational Physics Motile living organisms routinely probe their surroundings to adapt in ever-evolving environments. Although synthetic microswimmers offer surrogates for self-propelled living entities, they often lack the complex feedback mechanisms that enable organisms to adapt. In this work, we present an experimental platform in which light-activated colloids dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal can (i) switch from directed to active Brownian motion depending on the nematic anchoring and (ii) mechanically adjust their motility in response to crowding, effectively enforcing quorum-sensing interactions. Both features are caused by a distinctive self-propulsion mechanism as unveiled through experiments, simulations, and theory. We characterize the dynamics of a single colloid and demonstrate that its motion is captured by an active Brownian particle model if the nematic anchoring is homeotropic, and by directed self-propulsion along the nematic director if the anchoring is planar. Next, we investigate the many-body dynamics, showing that it undergoes a clustering phase separation through effective quorum-sensing interactions. Our work suggests how to create adaptive materials with life-like capabilities using readily accessible properties of liquid crystals and colloids without explicitly engineering any of the needed mechano-chemical feedbacks. |
| title | Quorum sensing of light-activated colloids in nematic liquid crystals |
| topic | Soft Condensed Matter Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Materials Science Computational Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10866 |