Flow-induced nonequilibrium self-assembly in suspensions of stiff, apolar, active filaments

Active bodies in viscous fluids interact hydrodynamically through self-generated flows. Here we study spontaneous aggregation induced by hydrodynamic flow in a suspension of stiff, apolar, active filaments. Lateral hydrodynamic attractions in extensile filaments lead, independent of volume fraction, to anisotropic aggregates which translate and rotate ballistically. Lateral hydrodynamic repulsion in contractile filaments lead, with increasing volume fractions, to microstructured states of asters, clusters, and incipient gels where, in each case, filament motion is diffusive. Our results demonstrate that the interplay of active hydrodynamic flows and anisotropic excluded volume interactions provides a generic nonequilibrium mechanism for hierarchical self-assembly of active soft matter.