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Symmetric Satellite Swarms and Choreographic Crystals

Latham Boyle, Jun Yong Khoo, and Kendrick Smith
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 015503 – Published 8 January 2016
Physics logo See Focus story: New Crystal Type is Always in Motion

Abstract

In this Letter, we introduce a natural dynamical analogue of crystalline order, which we call choreographic order. In an ordinary (static) crystal, a high degree of symmetry may be achieved through a careful arrangement of the fundamental repeated elements. In the dynamical analogue, a high degree of symmetry may be achieved by having the fundamental elements perform a carefully choreographed dance. For starters, we show how to construct and classify all symmetric satellite constellations. Then we explain how to generalize these ideas to construct and classify choreographic crystals more broadly. We introduce a quantity, called the “choreography” of a given configuration. We discuss the possibility that some (naturally occurring or artificial) many-body or condensed-matter systems may exhibit choreographic order, and suggest natural experimental signatures that could be used to identify and characterize such systems.

  • Figure
  • Received 25 February 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.015503

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Research Areas
  1. Physical Systems
  1. Techniques
General PhysicsCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Focus

Key Image

New Crystal Type is Always in Motion

Published 8 January 2016

Theorists define a new kind of crystal, where the symmetry is not based on the static locations of objects but instead on the relationship between their periodic motions, as in a group of satellites.

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Authors & Affiliations

Latham Boyle1, Jun Yong Khoo1,2, and Kendrick Smith1,3

  • 1Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada
  • 2MIT Physics Department, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
  • 3Princeton University Astronomy Department, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-1001, USA

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Issue

Vol. 116, Iss. 1 — 8 January 2016

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