Physically-informed data-driven modeling of active nematics

Abstract

A continuum description is essential for understanding variety of collective phenomena in active matter. However, building quantitative continuum models of active matter from first principles can be extremely challenging due to both the gaps in our knowledge and the complicated structure of nonlinear interactions. Here we use a novel physically-informed data-driven approach to construct a complete mathematical model of an active nematic from experimental data describing kinesin-drive microtubule bundles confined to an oil-water interface. We find that the structure of the model is similar to the Leslie-Erisken and Beris-Edwards models, but there are notable differences. Rather unexpectedly, elastic effects are found to play no role, with the dynamics controlled entirely by the balance between active stresses and highly anisotropic viscous stresses.