Self-oscillating synchronematic colloids

Self-oscillating synchronematic colloids | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Self-oscillating synchronematic colloids Kyle Bishop, Sergi Leyva, Zhengyan Zhang, Monica Olvera de la Cruz This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7041325/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Self-oscillators that sustain periodic dynamics under constant input are ubiquitous in natural and engineered systems, where their interactions enable spatiotemporal coordination among many individual units. New forms of organization can emerge when these self-oscillating units are free to move and rotate, coupling their spatial arrangement and alignment with their oscillation frequencies and phases. Here, we report experiments and simulations on populations of Quincke colloids that behave as self-oscillating units with position, orientation, frequency, and phase. Depending on the initial distribution, these active oscillators spontaneously organize into distinct collective states characterized by temporal synchronization and directional alignment, which we term synchronematic order. In fluid-like clusters, this order is short-ranged and decays over a length scale set by the competition between hydrodynamic interactions and athermal noise. In crystalline clusters, these interactions drive flobal synchronization and circular alignment-synchronematic crystals-whose collective frequency increases with cluster size due to non-reciprocal interactions. Our results establish self-oscillating colloids as a model system for active oscillatory matter and reveal fundamental principles by which synchronization, alignment, and structure co-emerge, offering new pathways for designing adaptive, frequency-tunable materials. Physical sciences/Materials science/Soft materials/Colloids Physical sciences/Physics/Fluid dynamics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files QuinckeSupplementary.pdf Supplementary Information 1fluid.mov Video 1 2crystals.mp4 Video 2 3fluidgradient.mov Video 3 4singlecrystal.mp4 Video 4 5singlecrystalsim.mp4 Video 5 6lineartocircular.mov Video 6 7lineartocircularsim.mp4 Video 7 8disassembly.mp4 Video 8 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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