Solitary cluster waves in driven dense colloids

Abstract: We will discuss the static and dynamic states of hard spheres confined in one-dimensional periodic potentials at high particle densities. Such systems can reside in a mechanical equilibrium or in running states characterized by soliton-mediated transport [1-3]. For weak external driving, these solitary cluster waves emerge in narrow intervals of specific particle sizes. The minimal number of particles needed to trigger the soliton propagation follows from conditions of mechanical equilibrium and can be determined by a geometric principle of minimum residual free space. We further address the number of propagating solitons, their mutual interactions, the influence of external forcing, and present experimental evidence for such solitary excitations in driven colloidal systems [4].

[1] AP Antonov, A Ryabov, P Maass, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 080601 (2022) [2] AP Antonov, A Ryabov, P Maass, Chaos, Solitons & Fractals 185, 115079 (2024) [3] AP Antonov, A Vonhusen, A Ryabov, P Maass, Nonlinear Dyn. (2025) doi: 10.1007/s11071-025-11626-x [4] E Cereceda-Lopez, et al., Nat. Commun. 14, 6448 (2023)

Computer scienceMathematics

Audience: researchers in the topic

Modelling of materials - theory, model reduction and efficient numerical methods (UNCE MathMAC)