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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Collective behavior of active molecules: Dynamic clusters, holes, and active fractalytes

Sebastian Fehlinger and Benno Liebchen*

  • Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstraße 8, D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany

  • *benno.liebchen@pkm.tu-darmstadt.de
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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L032038 – Published 15 September, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L032038

Abstract

Recent experiments have led to active colloidal molecules, which aggregate from nonmotile building blocks and acquire self-propulsion through their nonreciprocal interactions. Here, we model the collective behavior of such active molecules and predict, besides dynamic clusters, the existence of a so-far unknown state of active matter made of “active fractalytes”, which are motile crystallites featuring internal holes, gaps, and a fractal dimension. These structures could serve as a starting point for the creation of active materials with a low density and mechanical properties that can be designed through their fractal internal structure.

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Information

Phys. Rev. Research 5, L032038– Published 15 September, 2023
  • Received 22 November 2022
  • Accepted 13 June 2023
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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