Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 28: Active Matter V (joint session DY/BP)

BP 28.8: Talk

Thursday, March 12, 2026, 11:45–12:00, ZEU/0160

Jerky active particles — •Hartmut Löwen and Stephy Jose — Institut für Theoretische Physik II: Weiche Materie, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf

We introduce jerky active particles, a generalization of inertial active Brownian particles subjected to jerk, the time derivative of acceleration. These particles can be realized by feedback in active macroscopic granules or in mesoscopic colloids moving in a viscoelastic background with memory. We analytically derive their mean squared displacement (MSD) and show that there is a gigantic dynamical spreading with extremely high scaling exponent of the MSD as a function of time [1]. We also generalize jerky dynamics to a chiral active particle and demonstrate that the mean displacement shows damped and exploding Lissajous-like patterns alongside the well-known classical spira mirabilis [2]. Our work on jerky chiral active particles opens a new route to explore rich dynamical effects in active matter.

[1] H. Löwen, Physical Review E 112, 045412 (2025)

[2] S. Jose, H. Löwen, Chiral jerky active particles, New Journal of Physics (in press), see also arXiv:2508.18180

Keywords: active matter; inertial effects; chirality; feedback; dynamical spreading