Hydrodynamics of Active Defects: From Order to Chaos to Defect Ordering

Topological defects play a prominent role in the physics of two-dimensional materials. When driven out of equilibrium in active nematics, disclinations can acquire spontaneous self-propulsion and drive self-sustained flows upon proliferation. Here, we construct a general hydrodynamic theory for a two-dimensional active nematic interrupted by a large number of such defects. Our equations describe the flows and spatiotemporal defect chaos characterizing active turbulence, even close to the defect-unbinding transition. At high activity, nonequilibrium torques combined with many-body screening cause the active disclinations to spontaneously break rotational symmetry, forming a collectively moving defect-ordered polar liquid. By recognizing defects as the relevant quasiparticle excitations, we construct a comprehensive phase diagram for two-dimensional active nematics. Using our hydrodynamic approach, we additionally show that activity gradients can act like “electric fields,” driving the sorting of topological charge. This result demonstrates the versatility of our continuum model and its relevance for quantifying the use of spatially inhomogeneous activity for controlling active flows and for the fabrication of active devices with targeted transport capabilities