Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Staudingerweg 7-9, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
Sci Adv. 2023 Apr 14;9(15):eadf5443. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adf5443.
Emergent behavior in collectives of "robotic" units with limited capabilities that is robust and programmable is a promising route to perform tasks on the micro and nanoscale that are otherwise difficult to realize. However, a comprehensive theoretical understanding of the physical principles, in particular steric interactions in crowded environments, is still largely missing. Here, we study simple light-driven walkers propelled through internal vibrations. We demonstrate that their dynamics is well captured by the model of active Brownian particles, albeit with an angular speed that differs between individual units. Transferring to a numerical model, we show that this polydispersity of angular speeds gives rise to specific collective behavior: self-sorting under confinement and enhancement of translational diffusion. Our results show that, while naively perceived as imperfection, disorder of individual properties can provide another route to realize programmable active matter.
在具有有限能力的“机器人”单元的集体中出现的健壮且可编程的突发行为是在微观和纳米尺度上执行任务的有前途的途径，否则这些任务很难实现。然而，对物理原理的全面理论理解，特别是在拥挤环境中的空间相互作用，在很大程度上仍然缺失。在这里，我们研究了通过内部振动推动的简单光驱动步行者。我们证明，它们的动力学很好地被主动布朗粒子模型所捕捉，尽管各个单元之间的角速度不同。将其转移到数值模型中，我们表明这种角速度的多分散性会导致特定的集体行为：在受限条件下的自分类和增强的平移扩散。我们的结果表明，虽然个体属性的无序性被视为缺陷，但它可以为实现可编程的活性物质提供另一种途径。
