Antipolar ordering of topological defects in active liquid crystals
ATP-driven microtubule-kinesin bundles can self-assemble into two-dimensional active liquid crystals (ALCs) that exhibit a rich creation and annihilation dynamics of topological defects, reminiscent of particle-pair production processes in quantum systems. This recent discovery has sparked considera...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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IOP Publishing
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107773 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8865-2369 |
| _version_ | 1826197736144240640 |
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| author | Oza, Anand U Dunkel, Joern |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mathematics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mathematics Oza, Anand U Dunkel, Joern |
| author_sort | Oza, Anand U |
| collection | MIT |
| description | ATP-driven microtubule-kinesin bundles can self-assemble into two-dimensional active liquid crystals (ALCs) that exhibit a rich creation and annihilation dynamics of topological defects, reminiscent of particle-pair production processes in quantum systems. This recent discovery has sparked considerable interest but a quantitative theoretical description is still lacking. We present and validate a minimal continuum theory for this new class of active matter systems by generalizing the classical Landau–de Gennes free-energy to account for the experimentally observed spontaneous buckling of motor-driven extensile microtubule bundles. The resulting model agrees with recently published data and predicts a regime of antipolar order. Our analysis implies that ALCs are governed by the same generic ordering principles that determine the non-equilibrium dynamics of dense bacterial suspensions and elastic bilayer materials. Moreover, the theory manifests an energetic analogy with strongly interacting quantum gases. Generally, our results suggest that complex nonequilibrium pattern-formation phenomena might be predictable from a few fundamental symmetry-breaking and scale-selection principles. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:52:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/107773 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:52:40Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1077732022-09-30T23:38:33Z Antipolar ordering of topological defects in active liquid crystals Oza, Anand U Dunkel, Joern Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mathematics Dunkel, Joern ATP-driven microtubule-kinesin bundles can self-assemble into two-dimensional active liquid crystals (ALCs) that exhibit a rich creation and annihilation dynamics of topological defects, reminiscent of particle-pair production processes in quantum systems. This recent discovery has sparked considerable interest but a quantitative theoretical description is still lacking. We present and validate a minimal continuum theory for this new class of active matter systems by generalizing the classical Landau–de Gennes free-energy to account for the experimentally observed spontaneous buckling of motor-driven extensile microtubule bundles. The resulting model agrees with recently published data and predicts a regime of antipolar order. Our analysis implies that ALCs are governed by the same generic ordering principles that determine the non-equilibrium dynamics of dense bacterial suspensions and elastic bilayer materials. Moreover, the theory manifests an energetic analogy with strongly interacting quantum gases. Generally, our results suggest that complex nonequilibrium pattern-formation phenomena might be predictable from a few fundamental symmetry-breaking and scale-selection principles. Solomon Buchsbaum AT&T Research Fund Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Research Fellowship) 2017-03-29T20:48:47Z 2017-03-29T20:48:47Z 2016-09 2016-08 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1367-2630 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107773 Oza, Anand U, and Jörn Dunkel. “Antipolar Ordering of Topological Defects in Active Liquid Crystals.” New Journal of Physics 18.9 (2016): 093006. © 2017 IOP Publishing https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8865-2369 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/9/093006 New Journal of Physics Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ application/pdf IOP Publishing IOP Publishing |
| spellingShingle | Oza, Anand U Dunkel, Joern Antipolar ordering of topological defects in active liquid crystals |
| title | Antipolar ordering of topological defects in active liquid crystals |
| title_full | Antipolar ordering of topological defects in active liquid crystals |
| title_fullStr | Antipolar ordering of topological defects in active liquid crystals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Antipolar ordering of topological defects in active liquid crystals |
| title_short | Antipolar ordering of topological defects in active liquid crystals |
| title_sort | antipolar ordering of topological defects in active liquid crystals |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107773 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8865-2369 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ozaanandu antipolarorderingoftopologicaldefectsinactiveliquidcrystals AT dunkeljoern antipolarorderingoftopologicaldefectsinactiveliquidcrystals |