# Criticality at finite strain rate in fluidized soft glassy materials

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how critical dynamics emerge in the steady shear flow of fluidized soft glassy materials, revealing a transition driven by noise that leads to critical fluctuations similar to those observed in granular media.

## Contribution

It introduces a mesoscale elasto-plastic model showing how noise induces a transition from phase-separated to homogeneous flow with critical fluctuations.

## Key findings

- Power-law behavior of macroscopic shear rate near transition
- Transition from phase separation to homogeneous flow due to noise
- Critical fluctuations observed in shear rate near critical point

## Abstract

We study the emergence of critical dynamics in the steady shear rheology of fluidized soft glassy materials. Within a mesoscale elasto-plastic model accounting for a shear band instability, we show how an additional noise can induce a transition from phase separated to homogeneous flow, accompanied by critical-like fluctuations of the macroscopic shear rate. Both macroscopic quantities and fluctuations exhibit power law behaviors in the vicinity of this transition, consistent with previous experimental findings on vibrated granular media. Altogether, our results suggest a generic scenario for the emergence of criticality when shear weakening mechanisms compete with a fluidizing noise.