Exploiting compositional disorder in collectives of light-driven circle walkers.

ABSTRACT: 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 enhancemen

SUBMITTER: Siebers F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10104457 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature