English

Rheologically tuned modes of collective transport in active viscoelastic films

Soft Condensed Matter 2025-11-07 v2 Biological Physics Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

While many living biological media combine both viscous and elastic properties, most theoretical studies employ either purely fluid- or solid-like descriptions. We here use a unified framework for active films on substrates capable of describing a broad range of viscoelastic behavior to explore the interplay between activity and rheology. The core of the study is a comprehensive state diagram showing a rich world of spatiotemporal dynamic states. Our results demonstrate the potential of tunable rheology to realize modes of controlled active transport on the microscale.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2502.06294,
  title  = {Rheologically tuned modes of collective transport in active viscoelastic films},
  author = {Henning Reinken and Andreas M. Menzel},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.06294},
  year   = {2025}
}