Cooperative behavior and pattern formation in mixtures of driven and nondriven colloidal assemblies.
We simulate a disordered assembly of particles interacting through a repulsive Yukawa potential with a small fraction of the particles coupled to an external drive. Distortions in the arrangement of the nondriven particles produce a dynamically induced effective attraction between the driven particles, giving rise to intermittent one-dimensional stringlike structures. The velocity of a moving string increases with the number of driven particles in the string. We identify the average stable string length as a function of driving force, background particle density, and particle charge. This model represents a type of collective transport system composed of interacting particles moving through deformable disorder.
Reichhardt
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Center for Nonlinear Studies and Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
Olson Reichhardt
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