Curved Odd Elasticity

Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review

Contributors

  • Yuan Zhou - , University of Amsterdam (Author)
  • Lazaros Tsaloukidis - , Clusters of Excellence ctd.qmat: Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter, Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (Author)
  • Jack Binysh - , University of Amsterdam (Author)
  • Yuchao Chen - , Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Author)
  • Nikta Fakhri - , Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Author)
  • Corentin Coulais - , University of Amsterdam (Author)
  • Piotr Surówka - , Wrocław University of Science and Technology (Author)

Abstract

Living materials such as membranes, cytoskeletal assemblies, cell collectives, and tissues can often be described as active solids—materials that are energized from within, with elastic response about a well-defined reference configuration. These materials often live in complex and curved manifolds, yet most descriptions of active solids are flat. Here, we explore the interplay between curvature and nonreciprocal elasticity via a covariant effective theory on curved manifolds in combination with numerical simulations. We find that curvature spatially patterns activity, gaps the spectrum, modifies exceptional points, and introduces non-Hermitian defect modes. Together, these results establish a foundation for hydrodynamic and rheological models on curved manifolds, with direct implications for living matter and active metamaterials.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number088301
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume137
Issue number8
Publication statusPublished - 21 Aug 2026
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas