{
  "abstract": "Motivated by experiments on light-patterned, quasi-2D active suspensions that exhibit large density variations, we develop a continuum theory of compressible active nematics--suspensions of apolar rods whose orientation is invariant under $π$ rotations. Under spatially patterned activity, the extensile isotropic active pressure expels material from high-activity regions and accumulates it in low-activity ones; an exactly solvable scalar reduction shows that the resulting density contrast is governed by a single dimensionless parameter, linear in the compressibility. Using compressibility as a tuning knob, we then steer active turbulence from high- to low-activity regions and, at sharp activity interfaces, stabilize an analytically tractable dynamical steady state: a one-dimensional chain of vortices held by soft, activity-induced confinement. Our results establish compressibility as a control parameter for density variations and turbulent flow in active nematic suspensions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2607.24927",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Dimitrios Krommydas"
    },
    {
      "name": "Paarth Gulati"
    },
    {
      "name": "Aparna Baskaran"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Cristina Marchetti"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6h79aze1a08yx.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2607.24927",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "6h79aze1a08yx",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.24927",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.soft"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.bio-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.flu-dyn"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3104|Micro and Nano Robotics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7171645658",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.24927",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-15",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6h79aze1a08yx.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:29:50Z",
      "native_id": "2607.24927",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.24927"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.bio-ph",
      "subfield": "biological-medical"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.soft",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.flu-dyn",
      "subfield": "fluid-dynamics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Controlling Turbulent Flows in Compressible Active Liquid Crystals",
  "title_text": "Controlling Turbulent Flows in Compressible Active Liquid Crystals",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:29:50Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6h79aze1a08yx",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}