Melting of nonreciprocal solids: How dislocations propel and fission in flowing crystals

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Poncet, Alexis; Le Blay, Marine; Irvine, William T. M.; Vitelli, Vincenzo; Bartolo, Denis; Guillet, Stephane
• 署名单位: Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon (ENS de LYON); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1; Universite Paris Cite; Total SA; University of Chicago; University of Chicago
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-13831
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2412993122
• 发表日期: 2025-04-11
• 关键词: Instability

摘要

When soft matter is driven out of equilibrium its constituents interact via effective interactions that escape Newton's action-reaction principle. Prominent examples include the hydrodynamic interactions between colloidal particles driven in viscous fluids, phoretic interactions between chemically active colloids, and quorum-sensing interactions in bacterial colonies. Despite a recent surge of interest in nonreciprocal physics, a fundamental question remains: do nonreciprocal interactions alter or strengthen the ordered phases of matter driven out of equilibrium? Here, through a combination of experiments and simulations, we show how nonreciprocal forces propel and fission dislocations formed in hydrodynamically driven Wigner crystals. We explain how dislocation motility results in the continuous reshaping of grain-boundary networks, and how their fission reaction melts driven crystals from their interfaces. Beyond the specifics of hydrodynamics, we argue theoretically that topological defects and nonreciprocal interactions should invariably conspire to deform and ultimately destroy crystals.