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PreprintCC BY-NC-ND 4.0arXiv

Topology Does Not Determine Defect Mobility in Active Polar Matter

  • Abhra Puitandy
  • Shradha Mishra
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Abstract

Topological defects are commonly characterized by their charge, although defects with the same charge can have different internal morphologies. We study the annihilation of isolated ±1 defect pairs in a two-dimensional compressible Toner--Tu model, varying the morphology of the +1 defect while keeping the initial charges and separation fixed. Activity produces a morphology-dependent mobility asymmetry: reversing the radial orientation of an aster reverses which defect travels farther, and asters show the strongest response. An early-time analysis reveals that the initial morphology selects distinct density modes whose gradients subsequently feed back on the polarization. Consistently, removing the density-gradient coupling strongly suppresses the asymmetry. These results establish defect morphology, in addition to topological charge, as a dynamical variable governing defect-pair motion in active polar matter.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{puitandy2026topology,
  title = {{Topology Does Not Determine Defect Mobility in Active Polar Matter}},
  author = {Abhra Puitandy and Shradha Mishra},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.04428},
  eprint = {2611.04428},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.04428},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Topology Does Not Determine Defect Mobility in Active Polar Matter
AU  - Abhra Puitandy
AU  - Shradha Mishra
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/03
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.04428
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.04428
AB  - Topological defects are commonly characterized by their charge, although defects with the same charge can have different internal morphologies. We study the annihilation of isolated ±1 defect pairs in a two-dimensional compressible Toner--Tu model, varying the morphology of the +1 defect while keeping the initial charges and separation fixed. Activity produces a morphology-dependent mobility asymmetry: reversing the radial orientation of an aster reverses which defect travels farther, and asters show the strongest response. An early-time analysis reveals that the initial morphology selects distinct density modes whose gradients subsequently feed back on the polarization. Consistently, removing the density-gradient coupling strongly suppresses the asymmetry. These results establish defect morphology, in addition to topological charge, as a dynamical variable governing defect-pair motion in active polar matter.
ER  -