Abstract
We present a theory of moving stripes (“polar active smectics”), both with and without number conservation. The latter is described by a compact anisotropic Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation, which implies smectic order is quasilong ranged in and long ranged in . In the smectic disorders via a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, which can be driven by either increasing the noise or varying certain nonlinearities. For the number-conserving case, giant number fluctuations are greatly suppressed by the smectic order, which is long ranged in . Nonlinear effects become important in .
- Received 28 January 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.088701
© 2013 American Physical Society