A Rayleigh criterion for mechanical instability: inducing activity by chemo-mechanical coupling
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arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866914539849646080 |
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| author | Beyen, Aaron Casini, Francesco Maes, Christian |
| author_facet | Beyen, Aaron Casini, Francesco Maes, Christian |
| contents | Instabilities in thermodynamic systems are often undesirable, as they can lead to loss of control or even catastrophic behavior. Yet, the same mechanisms can also generate rich nonequilibrium behavior and may play a constructive role in living systems. We introduce a theoretical framework, inspired by Rayleigh's analysis of thermoacoustic instabilities, to study the emergence of mechanical activity. In particular, we derive Rayleigh-like criteria governing the onset of activity and the generation of rotational motion in a slow Newtonian probe coupled to driven chemical processes, described by Markov jump processes. These criteria are expressed in terms of the phase relation between entropic and frenetic contributions, providing a transparent condition for when chemical driving results in sustained rotational or active mechanical motion. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_06543 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A Rayleigh criterion for mechanical instability: inducing activity by chemo-mechanical coupling Beyen, Aaron Casini, Francesco Maes, Christian Statistical Mechanics Soft Condensed Matter Mathematical Physics Instabilities in thermodynamic systems are often undesirable, as they can lead to loss of control or even catastrophic behavior. Yet, the same mechanisms can also generate rich nonequilibrium behavior and may play a constructive role in living systems. We introduce a theoretical framework, inspired by Rayleigh's analysis of thermoacoustic instabilities, to study the emergence of mechanical activity. In particular, we derive Rayleigh-like criteria governing the onset of activity and the generation of rotational motion in a slow Newtonian probe coupled to driven chemical processes, described by Markov jump processes. These criteria are expressed in terms of the phase relation between entropic and frenetic contributions, providing a transparent condition for when chemical driving results in sustained rotational or active mechanical motion. |
| title | A Rayleigh criterion for mechanical instability: inducing activity by chemo-mechanical coupling |
| topic | Statistical Mechanics Soft Condensed Matter Mathematical Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.06543 |