Supersonic kinks and solitons in active solids

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Nonlinear Dynamics
• Active Matter

Background:

• Nonlinear waves in passive systems are often dissipative.
• Active matter introduces internal driving forces.
• Understanding wave propagation in structured media is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate internal driving of nonlinear waves in active matter.
• To model a topological kink moving at supersonic speeds.
• To investigate anti-dissipative wave phenomena.

Main Methods:

• Developed a prototypical model of a bi-stable mass-spring chain.
• Incorporated active stress generation into the model.
• Utilized numerical experiments and quasi-continuum approximation.

Main Results:

• Achieved steady propagation of nonlinear waves driven internally.
• Identified purely anti-dissipative supersonic kink solutions.
• Observed stable kink-type solutions and kink-anti-kink bundles.
• Validated findings with a quasi-continuum approximation.

Conclusions:

• Supersonic topological kinks in active matter can propagate without dissipation.
• Active stress enables self-driven, stable nonlinear wave phenomena.
• The model captures key features of active wave dynamics.