Self-Organization and Memory in a Disordered Solid Subject to Random Driving

We consider self-organization and memory formation in a mesoscopic model of an amorphous solid subject to a protocol of random shear confined to a strain range ±𝜖max. We develop proper readout protocols to show that the response of the driven system self-organizes to retain a memory of the strain range, which can be subsequently retrieved. Our findings generalize previous results obtained upon oscillatory driving and suggest that self-organization and memory formation of disordered materials can emerge under more general conditions, such as a disordered system interacting with its fluctuating environment. Self-organization results in a correlation between the dynamics of the system and its environment, providing thereby an elementary mechanism for sensing. We conclude by discussing our results and their potential relevance for the adaptation of simple organisms lacking a brain to changing environments.

Muhittin Mungan, Dheeraj Kumar, Sylvain Patinet, and Damien Vandembroucq, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 178203 – Published 30 April, 2025, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.178203