Intermittent Motility of a Synthetic Active Particle in Changing Environments

TL;DR

This study explores how environmental symmetry and wave patterns influence the intermittent motion of synthetic active particles, revealing a transition from continuous to trapped behaviors driven by symmetry-breaking in wave fields.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of environmental symmetry and wave environment changes on the motility and intermittency of synthetic active particles.

Findings

Intermittent azimuthal motion characterized by laminar and burst phases.

A symmetry-breaking transition alters the wave environment from continuous to trapped patterns.

Environmental structure modulates active particle dynamics and intermittency.

Abstract

We experimentally investigate the dynamics of synthetic active particles composed of gravitationally bouncing, superwalking droplets confined within an annular fluid bath. Driven by a topologically pumping dual-frequency waveform, the droplets exhibit alternating active (walking) and dormant (bouncing) phases, producing intermittent azimuthal motion. Tracking individual droplets reveals pseudolaminar chaotic dynamics in the time series of particle's angular position, characterized by laminar plateaus that are interrupted by short irregular bursts of activity. Increasing the driving amplitude induces a qualitative change in the active particle's intermittent dynamics, arising from a symmetry-breaking transition in its Faraday-wave field environment: continuous SO(2)-symmetric "channelling" waves give way to discrete "trapping" patterns. These findings demonstrate how environmental symmetry and spatiotemporal structure modulate motility and intermittency in synthetic active matter.