The Phase Synchronized State of Oriented Active Fluids

TL;DR

This paper develops a theory for active fluids with periodic activity, revealing a phase-synchronized state that leads to unique flow instabilities, advancing understanding of collective behavior in biological and synthetic active matter.

Contribution

It introduces a novel theoretical framework accounting for phase synchronization in active fluids, highlighting a new state with distinct flow instabilities.

Findings

Identification of a phase-synchronized state in active fluids.

Demonstration of flow instabilities due to phase synchronization.

Distinct behavior from phase-incoherent active matter.

Abstract

We present a theory for self-driven fluids, such as motorized cytoskeletal extracts or bacterial suspensions, that takes into account the underlying periodic duty cycle carried by the active particles of which the system is composed. We show that the fluid can enter a state in which the constituent elements synchronize their phases. This spontaneous breaking of time-translation invariance gives rise to flow instabilities distinct from those arising in phase-incoherent active matter.