Self-sustained oscillations of active viscoelastic matter

TL;DR

This paper presents a minimal, space-independent model that predicts self-sustained oscillations in active viscoelastic matter, simplifying the complex hydrodynamics typically involved in biological active nematics.

Contribution

The study introduces a simple dynamical systems model capturing coupled active and polymeric particle dynamics, revealing oscillatory behavior without complex hydrodynamics.

Findings

Demonstrates self-sustained oscillations in a minimal model

Shows the model's ability to predict coupled active-viscoelastic dynamics

Provides analytical and numerical insights into oscillatory behavior

Abstract

Models of active nematics in biological systems normally require complexity arising from the hydrodynamics involved at the microscopic level as well as the viscoelastic nature of the system. Here we show that a minimal, space-independent, model based on the temporal alignment of active and polymeric particles provides an avenue to predict and study their coupled dynamics within the framework of dynamical systems. In particular, we examine, using analytical and numerical methods, how such a simple model can display self-sustained oscillations in an activity-driven viscoelastic shear flow.