Glassy Dynamics in Chiral Fluids

Chiral active matter is enjoying a rapid increase of interest, spurred by the rich variety of asymmetries that can be attained in, e.g., the shape or self-propulsion mechanism of active particles. Though this has already led to the observance of so-called chiral crystals, active chiral glasses remain largely unexplored. A possible reason for this could be the naive expectation that interactions dominate the glassy dynamics and the details of the active motion become increasingly less relevant. Here, we show that quite the opposite is true by studying the glassy dynamics of interacting chiral active Brownian particles. We demonstrate that when our chiral fluid is pushed to glassy conditions, it exhibits highly nontrivial dynamics, especially compared to a standard linear active fluid such as common active Brownian particles. Despite the added complexity, we are still able to present a full rationalization for all identified dynamical regimes. Most notably, we introduce a new hammering mechanism, unique to rapidly spinning particles in high-density conditions, that can fluidize a chiral active solid.

Automated summary

Chiral active matter has attracted increasing interest due to the rich asymmetries that can be achieved in active particles. However, the study of chiral active glasses, as opposed to chiral crystals, has been largely unexplored. This study demonstrates that when chiral fluids are pushed to glassy conditions, they exhibit highly nontrivial dynamics, especially compared to standard linear active fluids. The introduction of a hammering mechanism, unique to rapidly spinning particles in high-density conditions, can fluidize a chiral active solid.