# gst: spontaneous flow instability in active nematics; when quiescent and flowing states may coexist.

<< Active nematics exhibit spontaneous flows through a well-known linear instability of the uniformly aligned quiescent state. Here, (AA) show that even a linearly stable uniform state can experience a nonlinear instability, resulting in a discontinuous transition to spontaneous flows. In this case, quiescent and flowing states may coexist. >>

<< Through a weakly nonlinear analysis and a numerical study, (AA) trace the bifurcation diagram of striped patterns and show that the underlying pitchfork bifurcation switches from supercritical (continuous) to subcritical (discontinuous) by varying the flow-alignment parameter. >>

AA << predict that the discontinuous spontaneous flow transition occurs for a wide range of parameters, including systems of contractile flow-aligning rods. (AA) predictions are relevant to active nematic turbulence and can potentially be tested in experiments on either cell layers or active cytoskeletal suspensions. >>

Ido Lavi, Ricard Alert, et al. Nonlinear Spontaneous Flow Instability in Active Nematics. Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 238301. Jun 9, 2025.

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.238301 

arXiv: 2403.16841v1 [cond-mat.soft].

https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.16841

Also: instability, turbulence, transition, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Also: Active nematics, in A. Doostmohammadi, et al. Nat Comm vol 9, no 3246 (2018). 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05666-8

Keywords: gst, instability, turbulence, transitions, supercritical-- subcritical bifurcations, active nematics.