English

Active topological strings in renewing nematopolar fluids

Soft Condensed Matter 2026-01-27 v1 Biological Physics

Abstract

Active matter often simultaneously exhibits different kinds of orientational order and, in many cases of biological interest, undergoes continuous material renewal. In renewing nematopolar fluids we find stable topological strings, structures consisting of two nematic point defects connected by a defect line in the polar field. We identify the mechanism underlying string stabilization and unveil how string length is determined. In the presence of active stress, we observe active-string chaos. Our work identifies continuous material renewal as a generic mechanism underlying the stabilization of topological defect structures in systems with mixed order parameters. It could be used for orchestrating living matter during development and other biological processes.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.18307,
  title  = {Active topological strings in renewing nematopolar fluids},
  author = {Alberto Dinelli and Ludovic Dumoulin and Karsten Kruse},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.18307},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

6 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T09:19:56.673Z