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Updated: Oct 25, 2025

Controlling Flow Speeds of Microtubule-Based 3D Active Fluids Using Temperature
Published on: November 26, 2019
Emergent order in hydrodynamic spin lattices
Pedro J Sáenz1,2, Giuseppe Pucci3,4, Sam E Turton3
1Department of Mathematics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. saenz@unc.edu.
Abstract:
Macroscale analogues1-3 of microscopic spin systems offer direct insights into fundamental physical principles, thereby advancing our understanding of synchronization phenomena4 and informing the design of novel classes of chiral metamaterials5-7. Here we introduce hydrodynamic spin lattices (HSLs) of 'walking' droplets as a class of active spin systems with particle-wave coupling. HSLs reveal various non-equilibrium symmetry-breaking phenomena, including transitions from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic order that can be controlled by varying the lattice geometry and system rotation8. Theoretical predictions based on a generalized Kuramoto model4 derived from first principles rationalize our experimental observations, establishing HSLs as a versatile platform for exploring active phase oscillator dynamics. The tunability of HSLs suggests exciting directions for future research, from active spin-wave dynamics to hydrodynamic analogue computation and droplet-based topological insulators.
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