• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Inertial self-propelled particles in anisotropic environments
  • Contributor: Sprenger, Alexander R.; Scholz, Christian; Ldov, Anton; Wittkowski, Raphael; Löwen, Hartmut
  • imprint: Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023
  • Published in: Communications Physics
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1038/s42005-023-01396-6
  • ISSN: 2399-3650
  • Keywords: General Physics and Astronomy
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Self-propelled particles in anisotropic environments can exhibit a motility that depends on their orientation. This dependence is relevant for a plethora of living organisms but difficult to study in controlled environments. Here, we present a macroscopic system of self-propelled vibrated granular particles on a striated substrate that displays orientation-dependent motility. An extension of the active Brownian motion model involving orientation-dependent motility and inertial effects reproduces and explains our experimental observations. The model can be applied to general <jats:italic>n</jats:italic>-fold symmetric anisotropy and can be helpful for predictive optimization of the dynamics of active matter in complex environments.</jats:p>
  • Access State: Open Access