2018/07/11 by Christian Scholz, Soudeh Jahanshahi, Anton Ldov +1 · 209 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Active matter #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Biology #Brownian motion #Classical mechanics #Diffusion and Search Dynamics #Dynamics (music) #Inertia #Inertial frame of reference #Langevin dynamics #Levitation #Mechanics #Micro and Nano Robotics #Moment of inertia #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Relaxation (psychology) #Statistical physics #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07596-x
published in Nature Communications 9(1), 5156 (Nature Portfolio)
arxiv created 2018/07/11 · arxiv updated 2018/12/05
The motion of self-propelled massive particles through a gaseous medium is dominated by inertial effects. Examples include vibrated granulates, activated complex plasmas and flying insects. However, inertia is usually neglected in standard models. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the significance of inertia on macroscopic self-propelled particles. We observe a distinct inertial delay between orientation and velocity of particles, originating from the finite relaxation times in the system. This effect is fully explained by an underdamped generalisation of the Langevin model of active Brownian motion. In stark contrast to passive systems, the inertial delay profoundly influences the long-time dynamics and enables new fundamental strategies for controlling self-propulsion in active matter.