# Universal spatio-temporal scaling of distortions in a drifting lattice

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a drifting lattice's distortions exhibit universal spatiotemporal scaling consistent with the KPZ class, and predicts stability and wave propagation in colloidal crystals under electric fields.

## Contribution

It analytically and numerically shows the KPZ universality in the fluctuations of drifting lattices and predicts stability and wave behavior in colloidal crystals.

## Key findings

- Fluctuations follow KPZ universality class.
- Colloidal crystal drifting in electric field is linearly stable.
- Distortions propagate as underdamped waves.

## Abstract

We study the dynamical response to small distortions of a lattice about its uniform state, drifting through a dissipative medium due to an external force, and show, analytically and numerically, that the fluctuations, both transverse and longitudinal to the direction of the drift, exhibit spatiotemporal scaling belonging to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class. Further, we predict that a colloidal crystal drifting in a constant electric field is linearly stable against distortions and the distortions propagate as underdamped waves.