Collective excitations in active solids featuring alignment interactions

Abstract

With increasing emphasis on the study of active solids, the features of these classes of nonequilibrium systems and materials beyond their mere existence shift into focus. One concept of active solids addresses them as active, self-propelled units that are elastically linked to each other. The emergence of orientationally ordered, collectively moving states in such systems has been demonstrated. We here analyze the excitability of such collectively moving elastic states. To this end, we determine corresponding fluctuation spectra. They indicate that collectively excitable modes exist in the migrating solid. Differences arise when compared to those of corresponding passive solids. We provide evidence that the modes of excitation associated with the intrinsic fluctuations are related to corresponding modes of entropy production. Overall, by our investigation, we hope to stimulate future experimental studies that focus on excitations in active solids.