Swarming and swirling in self-propelled polar granular rods

Using experiments with anisotropic vibrated rods and quasi-2D numerical simulations, we show that shape plays an important role in the collective dynamics of self-propelled (SP) particles. We demonstrate that SP rods exhibit local ordering, aggregation at the side walls, and clustering absent in round SP particles. Furthermore, we find that at sufficiently strong excitation SP rods engage in a persistent swirling motion in which the velocity is strongly correlated with particle orientation.     

Liquid-gas phase separation in confined vibrated dry granular matter

A new phase transition is observed experimentally in a dry granular gas subject to vertical vibration between two horizontal plates. Molecular dynamics simulations of this system allow us to investigate the observed phase separation in detail. We find a high-density, low temperature liquid, coexisting with a low-density, high temperature gas moving coherently. The importance of the coherent motion for phase separation is investigated using frequency modulation.     

Stick slip displacement of confined granular mixtures: Bubble expansion

When a compressible gas displaces a granular mixture in a quasi 2D space, friction causes stick slip motion. A localized slip event at the interface allows expansion of the compressed gas and a sudden forward motion of the front. The reservoir volume of gas determines the available elasticity in the system, and thereby the size of the expansion. Large expansions take the shape of bubbles, and in this paper we study the accumulation of granular material around the inflating gas bubble, and the rheological response of the system during this short expansion phase.     

Spontaneous patterning of quantum dots at the air-water interface

Nanoparticles deposited at the air-water interface are observed to form circular domains at low density and stripes at higher density. We interpret these patterns as equilibrium phenomena produced by a competition between an attraction and a longer-ranged repulsion. Computer simulations of a generic pair potential with attractive and repulsive parts of this kind, reproduce both the circular and stripe patterns. Such patterns have a potential use in nanoelectronic applications.     

Spontaneous ratchet effect in a granular gas

The spontaneous clustering of a vibrofluidized granular gas is employed to generate directed transport in two different compartmentalized systems: a granular fountain in which the transport takes the form of convection rolls, and a granular ratchet with a spontaneous particle current perpendicular to the direction of energy input. In both instances, transport is not due to any system-intrinsic anisotropy, but arises as a spontaneous collective symmetry breaking effect of many interacting granular particles. The experimental and numerical results are quantitatively accounted for within a flux model.     

Janssen's law and stress fluctuations in confined dry granular materials

In order to clarify the mechanisms which determine the Janssen's law for the pressure distribution at the bottom of a silo we reconsider the so-called q-model describing an assembly of granular particles on a lattice, confined between vertical walls. We find that the expected macroscopic behavior with the correct scaling is obtained whenever a mechanism able to transfer the weight from the interior of the silo to the walls in an efficient way is present, i.e., in mean field regime. Deviations from the Janssen law's found in lattice models are due to the absence of this efficient mechanism. We investigate the scaling properties of a stick-slip model recently introduced, and find that relative fluctuations do not disappear for large systems and are of the order of average values. Finally we observe that an exponential local weight distribution at the bottom of the silo is independent of the model considered.     

Onsager model for the structure of rigid rods confined on a spherical surface

Recent studies have suggested that a monolayer of self-avoiding hard rods confined on a spherical surface may display a distribution texture corresponding to splay, tennis-ball, rectangle, or cut-and-rotate splay symmetries. We investigate the system on the basis of a generalized Onsager model which includes both excluded-volume and entropic effects. The numerical solution indicates that the splay state, where on average rods line up in parallel to the longitudinal lines on the spherical surface, is the only stable state.     

Spontaneous decoherence of coupled harmonic oscillators confined in a ring

We study the spontaneous decoherence of coupled harmonic oscillators confined in a ring container, where the nearest-neighbor harmonic potentials are taken into consideration. Without any external symmetry-breaking field or surrounding environment, the quantum superposition state prepared in the relative degrees of freedom gradually loses its quantum coherence spontaneously. This spontaneous decoherence is interpreted by the gauge couplings between the center-of-mass and the relative degrees of freedoms, which actually originate from the symmetries of the ring geometry and the corresponding nontrivial boundary conditions. In particular, such spontaneous decoherence does not occur at all at the thermodynamic limit because the nontrivial boundary conditions become the trivial Born-von Karman boundary conditions when the perimeter of the ring container tends to infinity. Our investigation shows that a thermal macroscopic object with certain symmetries has a chance for its quantum properties to degrade even without applying an external symmetry-breaking field or surrounding environment.     

Spontaneous symmetry breaking turing-type pattern formation in a confined Dictyostelium cell mass

We have discovered a new type of patterning which occurs in a two-dimensionally confined cell mass of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. Besides the longitudinal structure reported earlier, we observed a spontaneous symmetry breaking spot pattern whose wavelength shows similar strain dependency to that of the longitudinal pattern. We propose that these structures are due to a reaction-diffusion Turing instability similar to the one which has been exemplified by CIMA (chlorite-iodide-malonic acid) reaction. The present finding may exhibit the first biochemical Turing structure in a developmental system with a controllable boundary condition.     

Experimental study of vertical stress profiles of a confined granular bed under static and dynamic conditions

In a wet agglomeration process inside a low shear mixer, the blade function is to induce i) homogenization of the liquid sprayed on the powder surface and ii) a stress field able to transfer the mechanical energy at the particle scale. In this work we study the mechanical state of a confined powder bed through the analysis of stress distributions (by force measurements) in a rectangular cell in two cases: for a classical model powder (i.e. glass beads) and a complex powder (i.e. wheat semolina). Two types of vertical stress profiles are obtained according to the type of measurements carried out in the powder bed, either locally (at different positions in the cell) or globally (at the entire base). The global vertical stress profile follows Janssen's model and the local vertical stress profile highlights a critical length, identified as the percolation threshold of the force network, and a shielding length near the bottom, which is similar to an influence length of the side walls. In the context of wet agglomeration, the results allow to consider the role of the characteristic lengths in the mixing bowl under vertical mechanical solicitation.     

Nematic order in small systems: measuring the elastic and wall-anchoring constants in vibrofluidized granular rods

We investigate nematic order in vibrated granular rods confined to a small quasi-2D container less than 10 rod lengths in diameter. As rod density ρ increases, patterning shifts from bipolar to uniform alignment. We find that a continuum liquid crystal free energy functional captures key patterning features down to almost the particle size. By fitting theory to experiments, we estimate the relative values of bend and splay elastic constants and wall anchoring. We find that splay is softer than bend for all ρ and rod lengths tested, while the ratio of the average elastic constant to wall anchoring increases with ρ.     

Active Brownian rods

Bacteria, chemically-driven rods, and motility assays are examples of active (i.e. self-propelled) Brownian rods (ABR). The physics of ABR, despite their ubiquity in experimental systems, remains still poorly understood. Here, we review the large-scale properties of collections of ABR moving in a dissipative medium. We address the problem by presenting three different models, of decreasing complexity, which we refer to as model I, II, and III, respectively. Comparing model I, II, and III, we disentangle the role of activity and interactions. In particular, we learn that in two dimensions by ignoring steric or volume exclusion effects, large-scale nematic order seems to be possible, while steric interactions prevent the formation of orientational order at large scales. The macroscopic behavior of ABR results from the interplay between active stresses and local alignment. ABR exhibit, depending on where we locate ourselves in parameter space, a zoology of macroscopic patterns that ranges from polar and nematic bands to dynamic aggregates.     

Three-dimensional biomolecule patterning

A new method is demonstrated, where three-dimensional protein structures are made by employing multi-photon polymerization and photobiotin photolysis. The technique enables the construction of arbitrary two- and three-dimensional shapes with submicron resolution. The integrity of the immobilized biotin is confirmed by derivatization with fluorescently labeled streptavidin. Fluorescence microscopy is used in order to visualize the distribution of fluorescent streptavidin on the 3D structure.     

Dynamics of confined gluons

Propagation of gluons in the confining vacuum is studied in the framework of background perturbation theory, where nonperturbative background contains confining correlators. Two settings of the problem are considered. In the first, the confined gluon evolves in time together with the static quark and antiquark forming the one-gluon static hybrid. The hybrid spectrum is calculated in terms of string tension and is in agreement with earlier analytic and lattice calculations. In the second setting, the confined gluon is exchanged between quarks and the gluon Green’s function is calculated, giving rise to the Coulomb potential modified at large distances. The resulting screening radius of 0.5 fm presents a problem when confronted with lattice and experimental data. A possible solution of this discrepancy is discussed.     

Chemotaxis of nonbiological colloidal rods

Chemotaxis is the movement of organisms toward or away from a chemical attractant or toxin by a biased random walk process. Here we describe the first experimental example of chemotaxis outside biological systems. Platinum-gold rods 2.0 microm long exhibit directed movement toward higher hydrogen peroxide concentrations through "active diffusion." Brownian dynamics simulations reveal that no "temporal sensing" algorithm, commonly attributed to bacteria, is necessary; rather, the observed chemotaxis can be explained by random walk physics in a gradient of the active diffusion coefficient.     

Buckling of coupled elastic rods

A simple physical system is studied which demonstrates the unfolding of a multiple bifurcation point. Two coupled elastic rods are subjected to a compressive load. The rods are joined such that their buckling directions are orthogonal. As the load is quasistatically increased from zero one of the two rods will buckle independently of the other. The “preferred” buckling mode is determined by two parameters, the length ratio and the stiffness ratio. The experimental system consists of two spring steel strips joined through a Teflon connector such that the buckling planes are orthogonal. The theoretical model consists of an analogous rigid rod and spring model which we assume retains the essential features of the continous system. Secondary bifurcation is essential to a continuous exchange of priority between the two buckling modes, and its role is examined for both imperfection-free and perturbed rod-spring systems. Our computational results are then compared with some experiments.     

稠密颗粒射流倾斜撞击颗粒膜特征

采用高速摄像仪对稠密颗粒射流倾斜撞击形成的类液体颗粒膜特征进行实验研究,考察了颗粒粒径、射流速度以及射流含固率等因素对颗粒膜形态及动态特征的影响.结果表明:随着颗粒粒径增大,稠密颗粒倾斜撞击流由颗粒膜向散射模式转变;随着射流速度增加,气固不稳定增强,射流流量出现脉动,正面与侧面分别表现为颗粒膜的非轴对称振荡和表面波纹结构;颗粒膜非轴对称振荡的振荡频率和振荡幅度随射流速度的增大而增大;表面波纹速度和波长沿传播方向增大,波纹间存在叠加现象.颗粒膜出现非轴对称振荡主要是因为喷嘴出口由气固不稳定性引起的射流流量脉动,射流流量脉动频率与撞击面振荡频率基本相当.     

Scaling of polymers in aligned rods

We study the behavior of self-avoiding polymers in a background of infinitely long vertically aligned rods that are either frozen in random positions or free to move horizontally. We find that in both cases the polymer chains are highly elongated, with vertical and horizontal size exponents that differ by a factor of 3. Though these results are different than previous predictions, our results are confirmed by detailed computer simulations.