Nonequilibrium phase transitions in active contractile polar filaments

We study the patterning and fluctuations of a collection of active contractile polar filaments on a two dimensional substrate, using a continuum description in the presence of athermal noise, parameterised by an active temperature \(T_A\). The steady states generically consist of arrays of inward po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2012-01
Main Authors: Gowrishankar, Kripa, Rao, Madan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crystal lattices
Filaments
Long range order
Phase transitions
Substrates
Variations
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We study the patterning and fluctuations of a collection of active contractile polar filaments on a two dimensional substrate, using a continuum description in the presence of athermal noise, parameterised by an active temperature \(T_A\). The steady states generically consist of arrays of inward pointing asters and show a continuous transition from a moving aster street to a stationary aster lattice. In contrast to its equilibrium counterpart, this active crystal shows true long range order at low \(T_A\). On increasing \(T_A\), the asters remodel with a distribution of lifetimes; concomitantly we find novel phase transitions characterised by polar and bond-orientational order.
ISSN:2331-8422