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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Self-organized dynamics of a viscous drop with interfacial nematic activity

Mohammadhossein Firouznia1,2 and David Saintillan1,*

  • *Contact author: dstn@ucsd.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, L012054 – Published 5 March, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.L012054

Abstract

We study emergent dynamics in a viscous drop subject to interfacial nematic activity. Using hydrodynamic simulations, we show how the interplay of nematodynamics, activity-driven flows in the fluid bulk, and surface deformations gives rise to a sequence of self-organized behaviors of increasing complexity, from periodic braiding motions of topological defects to chaotic defect dynamics and active turbulence, along with spontaneous shape changes and translation. Our findings recapitulate qualitative features of experiments and shed light on the mechanisms underpinning morphological dynamics in active interfaces.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, L012054– Published 5 March, 2025
  • Received 16 April 2024
  • Accepted 13 February 2025
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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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