Nonlinear Spontaneous Flow Instability in Active Nematics

Author(s): Ido Lavi, Ricard Alert, Jean-François Joanny, and Jaume Casademunt Active nematics exhibit spontaneous flows through a well-known linear instability of the uniformly aligned quiescent state. Here, we show that even a linearly stable uniform state can experience a nonlinear instability, resulting in a discontinuous transition to spontaneous flows. In this case, quie… [Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 238301] Published Mon Jun 09, 2025