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arXiv · 1402.0907

Anomalous discontinuity at the percolation critical point of active gels

M. Sheinman·A. Sharma·J. Alvarado·G. H. Koenderink·F. C. MacKintosh
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Abstract

We develop a percolation model motivated by recent experimental studies of gels with active network remodeling by molecular motors. This remodeling was found to lead to a critical state reminiscent of random percolation (RP), but with a cluster distribution inconsistent with RP. Our model not only can account for these experiments, but also exhibits an unusual type of mixed phase transition: We find that the transition is characterized by signatures of criticality, but with a discontinuity in the order parameter.

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M. Sheinman, A. Sharma, J. Alvarado, G. H. Koenderink, F. C. MacKintosh. 2015-02-05. Anomalous discontinuity at the percolation critical point of active gels. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.114.098104

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