Tunable colloidal swarmalators with hydrodynamic coupling

Abstract

Swarmalators - entities that combine swarming with synchronization - offer a powerful framework for understanding systems where spatial organization and internal degrees of freedom are bidirectionally coupled. Such interplay arises in diverse natural and engineered systems, from Japanese tree frogs and magnetic domain walls to robotic swarms. In contrast to an established theoretical framework, experimental realizations with tunable coupling between motion and phase remain elusive. Here, we present a controllable swarmalator system based on feedback-controlled self-propelling colloidal particles orbiting around reference points and interacting via hydrodynamic flows. We show that synchronization and spatial dynamics co-evolve, giving rise to collective states including synchronized clusters, rotating aggregates, and dispersive phases using a single control parameter. A rapid change of this parameter between regimes of attractive and repulsive phase-mediated interactions yields dynamic regimes inaccessible to systems with static interactions. Simulations incorporating squirmer and lubrication forces support our findings. We also find a new interaction channel through synchronization-dependent forces perpendicular to the connection axis between swarmalators. In general, our platform provides a versatile testbed for probing swarmalator physics but also offers novel strategies for the design of self-organizing active matter.