title: Emergent cometlike swarming of optically driven thermally active colloids.
abstract: We propose a simple system of optically driven colloids that convert light into heat and move in response to self-generated and collectively generated thermal gradients. We show that the system exhibits self-organization into a moving cometlike swarm and characterize the structure and response of the swarm to a light-intensity-dependent external tuning parameter. We observe many interesting features in this nonequilibrium system including circulation and evaporation, intensity-dependent shape, density and temperature fluctuations, and ejection of hot colloids from the swarm tip.
authors.affiliation: Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jack A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Golestanian