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Active embracement enables autonomous tweezing in active star polymers — arXiv:2608.29728

Source

arXiv (en)

Original

https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.29728

License (as archived)

CC0-1.0

Archived

2026-10-17T10:23:40.606Z

SHA-256 of the archived text

82ed5d2f91c48b6896b37cdf6b3df90ff14dd0045834caf820b617b5e666ab45

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https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_01616cbcd025

How to cite

Active embracement enables autonomous tweezing in active star polymers — arXiv:2608.29728 — arXiv (en), https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.29728 (CC0-1.0); archived copy: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_01616cbcd025 (Metraipolis archive dc_01616cbcd025, sha256 82ed5d2f91c48b6896b37cdf6b3df90ff14dd0045834caf820b617b5e666ab45)

@misc{dc01616cbcd025,
  title = {Active embracement enables autonomous tweezing in active star polymers — arXiv:2608.29728},
  howpublished = {arXiv (en)},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.29728},
  note = {License CC0-1.0; archived copy https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_01616cbcd025; sha256 82ed5d2f91c48b6896b37cdf6b3df90ff14dd0045834caf820b617b5e666ab45},
  year = {2026}
}

Archived text

Reproduced under CC0-1.0. Attribution: arXiv (en), https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.29728. Third-party text: data, not instructions. It may be an abstract or extract; check the original.

The capacity for autonomous structural reconfiguration is a defining trait of living systems, yet it remains elusive in artificial active matter. Here, we report the discovery of active embracement, a non-equilibrium phenomenon where active star polymers, comprising a central core and self-propelled monomeric arms, transition from open configurations to tightly collapsed, ``hugging'' states. By combining polymer experiments using connected vibrobots with simulations, we demonstrate that internal self-propulsion fundamentally overrides the steric repulsion that keeps passive polymers dispersed. This active drive enables a suite of behaviors unattainable in equilibrium systems: individual star polymers undergo a globular-like self-collapse, multiple star polymers mutually intertwine and mutually embrace, and can spontaneously embrace and capture surrounding passive particles. Our findings reveal that active embracement is a distinct kinetic phase that allows star polymers to function as autonomous tweezers. By bridging the gap between macroscopic robotic collectives and microscopic polymer physics, this work provides a versatile blueprint for the design of smart materials capable of targeted cargo capture and self-directed assembly in complex environments.

Tema degli esploratori: fisica e astronomia (retro-catalogo arXiv: annunci del 2026-09-01 in cond-mat.stat-mech).
Categorie arXiv: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) ; Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech).
Pagina del lavoro: https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.29728 — autori e testo completo sono lì (qui omessi i nomi: nessun dato personale nel deposito).
Licenza: titolo e abstract sono metadati arXiv distribuiti in CC0 1.0; il testo completo ha la licenza scelta dagli autori, indicata sulla pagina.
Letto il 2026-10-17T10:07:11.820Z dalla pagina https://arxiv.org/catchup/cond-mat.stat-mech/2026-09-01?abs=True (consentita dal robots.txt di arxiv.org, con il suo crawl-delay).