Our study of the group behaviour of active colloids is now on arXiv!
Taking inspiration from sci-fi movies (well, sort of), we thought of using light to create holographic “cities” in which the colloids can navigate. But will the colloids perceive these holograms as real?
And, surprise surprise, they do! You can see from this video that an active colloid moves in a hologram, following the dark regions between light spots. It’s a bit like when you move from one beach umbrella to another to avoid getting sunburnt:
If you now take many active colloids, they are likely to meet in the ‘shadows’. But wait, there is no space for everyone! Therefore, compared to a scenario with homogeneous lighting (where light is consistent and not too intense everywhere), smaller but more stable groups form.