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Updated: Aug 19, 2025

Forming, Confining, and Observing Microtubule-Based Active Nematics
Published on: January 13, 2023
Coexistence of Active and Hydrodynamic Turbulence in Two-Dimensional Active Nematics
C Rorai1, F Toschi2,3, I Pagonabarraga1,4,5
1CECAM, Centre Européen de Calcul Atomique et Moléculaire, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Batochime, Avenue Forel 2, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract:
In active nematic liquid crystals, activity is able to drive chaotic spatiotemporal flows referred to as active turbulence. Active turbulence has been characterized through theoretical and experimental work as a low Reynolds number phenomenon. We show that, in two dimensions, the active forcing alone is able to trigger hydrodynamic turbulence leading to the coexistence of active and inertial turbulence. This type of flow develops for sufficiently active and extensile flow-aligning nematics. We observe that the combined effect of an extensile nematic and large values of the flow-aligning parameter leads to a broadening of the elastic energy spectrum that promotes a growth of kinetic energy able to trigger an inverse energy cascade.
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