Shaping active matter from crystalline solids to active turbulence.

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Materials Science
• Chemistry

Background:

• Active matter exhibits autonomous movement and emergent states, crucial for biological and material applications.
• Controlling active material reconfigurability with minimal input is a significant scientific challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how modulating the activity of a wet phoretic medium influences its phase transitions and emergent patterns.
• To unify seemingly conflicting experimental observations in chemically active systems.

Main Methods:

• Large-scale, agent-resolved simulations were used to model the behavior of active matter.
• The study focused on manipulating the activity of the phoretic medium to observe its effects.

Main Results:

• Modulating phoretic medium activity alone can control solid-liquid-gas and laminar-turbulent phase transitions.
• Two novel, emergent transitions were observed, linking active matter behavior to traditional matter.
• A unified landscape of phoretic collective dynamics was established, reconciling experimental data.

Conclusions:

• This research deepens the understanding of long-range interactions and non-equilibrium collective behaviors in active matter.
• The findings provide a framework for designing reconfigurable active materials.
• The study highlights parallels between active and traditional matter through observed phase transitions.