Beecroft Building, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU
Professor Anton Souslov, University of Cambridge
Abstract
Active solids consume energy to allow for actuation and shape change not possible in equilibrium. We discover anomalies in the continuum description of non-reciprocal active solids, a ubiquitous class of active materials. In the first half of the talk, I will describe our work on "more is less" [1]: We find that as microscopic activity increases, macroscale active response can vanish below an active percolation transition. In the second half, I will talk about the formation and coarsening of dynamical patterns when active solids undergo instabilities [2]. Our results unveil surprising facets of active matter, offering new principles for engineering materials and locomotion far from equilibrium.
[1] More is less in unpercolated active solids. Jack Binysh, Guido Baardink, Jonas Veenstra, Corentin Coulais, Anton Souslov. arXiv:2504.18362. Physical Review X (in press).
[2] Wave coarsening drives time crystallization in active solids. Jonas Veenstra, Jack Binysh, Vito Seinen, Rutger Naber, Damien Robledo-Poisson, Andres Hunt, Wim van Saarloos, Anton Souslov, Corentin Coulais. arXiv:2508.20052