Kavli Affiliate: Mark J. Bowick
| First 5 Authors: Suraj Shankar, Luca V. D. Scharrer, Mark J. Bowick, M. Cristina Marchetti,
| Summary:
Topological defects play a central role in the physics of many materials,
including magnets, superconductors and liquid crystals. In active fluids,
defects become autonomous particles that spontaneously propel from internal
active stresses and drive chaotic flows stirring the fluid. The intimate
connection between defect textures and active flow suggests that properties of
active materials can be engineered by controlling defects, but design
principles for their spatiotemporal control remain elusive. Here we provide a
symmetry-based additive strategy for using elementary activity patterns, as
active topological tweezers, to create, move and braid such defects. By
combining theory and simulations, we demonstrate how, at the collective level,
spatial activity gradients act like electric fields which, when strong enough,
induce an inverted topological polarization of defects, akin to an exotic
negative susceptibility dielectric. We harness this feature in a dynamic
setting to collectively pattern and transport interacting active defects. Our
work establishes an additive framework to sculpt flows and manipulate active
defects in both space and time, paving the way to design programmable active
and living materials for transport, memory and logic.
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