Dynamical Crystallites of Active Chiral Particles

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex behaviors of active chiral particles far from equilibrium, revealing transitions between different dynamical regimes and the formation of self-rotating crystallites driven by coupling between self-propulsion and spinning.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of how chiral activity influences pattern formation and dynamical states in active matter systems, highlighting the emergence of self-rotating crystallites.

Findings

Identification of three bulk dynamical regimes: translative motion, structural arrest, and frustration.

Discovery of a persistent state of self-rotating crystallites due to a localized-delocalized transition.

Mechanism for breaking localized states enabling self-shearing or self-flow in active crystalline layers.

Abstract

One of the intrinsic characteristics of far-from-equilibrium systems is the nonrelaxational nature of the system dynamics, which leads to novel properties that cannot be understood and described by conventional pathways based on thermodynamic potentials. Of particular interest are the formation and evolution of ordered patterns composed of active particles that exhibit collective behavior. Here we examine such a type of nonpotential active system, focusing on effects of coupling and competition between chiral particle self-propulsion and self-spinning. It leads to the transition between three bulk dynamical regimes dominated by collective translative motion, spinning-induced structural arrest, and dynamical frustration. In addition, a persistently dynamical state of self-rotating crystallites is identified as a result of a localized-delocalized transition induced by the crystal-melt interface. The mechanism for the breaking of localized bulk states can also be utilized to achieve self-shearing or self-flow of active crystalline layers.