Geometrical entanglement and alignment regulate self-organization in active ring polymer suspensions

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Miranda, Juan Pablo, Locatelli, Emanuele, Micheletti, Cristian, Levis, Demian, Valeriani, Chantal
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Miranda, Juan Pablo
Locatelli, Emanuele
Micheletti, Cristian
Levis, Demian
Valeriani, Chantal
author_facet Miranda, Juan Pablo
Locatelli, Emanuele
Micheletti, Cristian
Levis, Demian
Valeriani, Chantal
contents We study the emerging self-organization in active ring suspensions, focusing on how the rings' orientational order and geometric entanglement vary with density and spatial confinement. To quantify entanglement, we introduce the wrapping number, a pairwise measure of ring interpenetration, while orientational order is characterized by the alignment of the normal vectors to the rings' osculating planes. Both wrapping number and alignment distinguish active from passive systems, and their combination aptly identifies the self-organized states that emerge with the onset of activity. Mutual-information analysis reveals a significant correlation between alignment and wrapping number across all considered active conditions. However, self-organization displays a non-monotonic dependence on the activity-induced entanglement. Specifically, moderate wrapping stabilizes contacts of neighboring aligned rings, while excessive entanglement disrupts alignment. We show that this competition arises because increasing entanglement interferes with the planar conformations required to form aligned stacks. Given the simplicity of this microscopic mechanism, analogous effects may occur more generally in polymer systems where the degree of entanglement is regulated by out-of-equilibrium effects.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_22784
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Geometrical entanglement and alignment regulate self-organization in active ring polymer suspensions
Miranda, Juan Pablo
Locatelli, Emanuele
Micheletti, Cristian
Levis, Demian
Valeriani, Chantal
Soft Condensed Matter
We study the emerging self-organization in active ring suspensions, focusing on how the rings' orientational order and geometric entanglement vary with density and spatial confinement. To quantify entanglement, we introduce the wrapping number, a pairwise measure of ring interpenetration, while orientational order is characterized by the alignment of the normal vectors to the rings' osculating planes. Both wrapping number and alignment distinguish active from passive systems, and their combination aptly identifies the self-organized states that emerge with the onset of activity. Mutual-information analysis reveals a significant correlation between alignment and wrapping number across all considered active conditions. However, self-organization displays a non-monotonic dependence on the activity-induced entanglement. Specifically, moderate wrapping stabilizes contacts of neighboring aligned rings, while excessive entanglement disrupts alignment. We show that this competition arises because increasing entanglement interferes with the planar conformations required to form aligned stacks. Given the simplicity of this microscopic mechanism, analogous effects may occur more generally in polymer systems where the degree of entanglement is regulated by out-of-equilibrium effects.
title Geometrical entanglement and alignment regulate self-organization in active ring polymer suspensions
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22784