Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 21, 2026
09:25
Fabricating van der Waals Heterostructures with Precise Rotational Alignment
Published on: July 5, 2019
10.2K
Circling crystals in chiral active matter with self-alignment.
Marco Musacchio1, Alexander P Antonov1, Hartmut Löwen1
1Institut für Theoretische Physik II: Weiche Materie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. musacchio@thphy.uni-duesseldorf.de.
Soft Matter
|February 19, 2026
Summary
Active crystals with self-alignment and chirality exhibit unique collective motion. Chirality induces circular crystal motion, while dominant chirality leads to vortex-like regions and oscillating correlations.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Soft Matter Physics
- Active Matter Physics
Background:
- Active matter systems exhibit complex behaviors driven by self-propulsion and inter-particle interactions.
- Crystals composed of active units present unique emergent phenomena not observed in passive systems.
- Self-alignment and chirality are key properties influencing the dynamics of active matter.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the collective dynamics of active crystals governed by self-alignment and chirality.
- To identify and characterize distinct phases of collective motion arising from the interplay of these two mechanisms.
- To explore the potential experimental realization of these phenomena in various physical and biological systems.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical modeling of active crystal dynamics incorporating self-alignment torques and chiral interactions.
- Numerical simulations to observe emergent behaviors and phase transitions.
- Analysis of spatial velocity correlations, energy spectra, and temporal correlations to characterize different dynamic states.
Main Results:
- A weak degree of chirality combined with self-alignment induces collective motion of the entire crystal along circular trajectories, termed the 'circling crystal' phase.
- When chirality dominates self-alignment, global circular motion is suppressed, leading to localized vortex-like regions of coordinated motion.
- This vortex-like state is characterized by oscillating spatial velocity correlations, a power-law decay in the energy spectrum, and oscillatory temporal correlations.
Conclusions:
- The interplay between self-alignment and chirality in active crystals leads to distinct emergent phases of collective motion.
- The 'circling crystal' and vortex-dominated states offer new paradigms for understanding active matter dynamics.
- These findings have implications for designing and understanding systems ranging from biological tissues to engineered active matter.
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