Overcrowding induces fast colloidal solitons in a slowly rotating potential landscape

Abstract

Abstract Collective particle transport across periodic energy landscapes is ubiquitously present in many condensed matter systems spanning from vortices in high-temperature superconductors, frictional atomic sliding, driven skyrmions to biological and active matter. Here we report the emergence of fast solitons propagating against a rotating optical landscape. These experimentally observed solitons are stable cluster waves that originate from a coordinated particle exchange process which occurs when the number of trapped microparticles exceeds the number of potential wells. The size and speed of individual solitons rapidly increase with the particle diameter as predicted by theory and confirmed by numerical simulations. We show that when several solitons coexist, an effective repulsive interaction can stabilize their propagation along the periodic potential. Our experiments demonstrate a generic mechanism for cluster-mediated transport with potential applications to condensed matter systems on different length scales.