Biphasic, Lyotropic, Active Nematics

Abstract

We perform dynamical simulations of a two-dimensional active nematic fluid in coexistence with an isotropic fluid. Drops of active nematic become elongated, and an effective anchoring develops at the nematic-isotropic interface. The activity also causes an undulatory instability of the interface. This results in defects of positive topological charge being ejected into the nematic, leaving the interface with a diffuse negative charge. Quenching the active lyotropic fluid results in a steady state in which phase-separating domains are elongated and then torn apart by active stirring.

7 pages, 8 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Spontaneous motion in hierarchically assembled active matter
• Meso-scale turbulence in living fluids
• Genetic drift at expanding frontiers promotes gene segregation
• Steady-state hydrodynamic instabilities of active liquid crystals: Hybrid lattice Boltzmann simulations

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Active matter in a viscoelastic environment
• Morphology and flow patterns in highly asymmetric active emulsions
• Chaotic and periodical dynamics of active chiral droplets
• Edge instability in incompressible planar active fluids
• Anchoring-driven spontaneous rotations in active gel droplets
• Global Weak Solutions for the Compressible Active Liquid Crystal System