Glassy Dynamics in Chiral Fluids

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex glassy dynamics of interacting chiral active Brownian particles, revealing novel behaviors like a 'hammering' mechanism that fluidizes chiral active solids, contrasting with standard active fluids.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of glassy states in chiral active matter and introduces a new 'hammering' mechanism affecting their dynamics.

Findings

Identification of nontrivial dynamical regimes in chiral active glasses

Discovery of a 'hammering' fluidization mechanism for rapidly spinning particles

Comparison showing distinct behaviors from standard active Brownian particles

Abstract

Chiral active matter is enjoying a rapid increase of interest, spurred by the rich variety of asymmetries that can be attained in e.g. the shape or self-propulsion mechanism of active particles. Though this has already led to the observance of so-called chiral crystals, active chiral glasses remain largely unexplored. A possible reason for this could be the naive expectation that interactions dominate the glassy dynamics and the details of the active motion become increasingly less relevant. Here we show that quite the opposite is true by studying the glassy dynamics of interacting chiral active Brownian particles (cABPs). We demonstrate that when our chiral fluid is pushed to glassy conditions, it exhibits highly nontrivial dynamics, especially compared to a standard linear active fluid such as common ABPs. Despite the added complexity, we are still able to present a full rationalization for all identified dynamical regimes. Most notably, we introduce a new 'hammering' mechanism, unique to rapidly spinning particles in high-density conditions, that can fluidize a chiral active solid.