Deformation and collision over a chain of active stochastic particles

In this work, the response (deformation) of a chain of N-1 active stochastic particles, interacting by nonlinear springs, to an external force is numerically studied and rationalized with a minimal model. It is found that a chain of active stochastic particles linearly interacting presents the classical Hookean deformation with respect to an external force, and that this deformation is independent of the activity in the system. However, when the chain of active particles interacts by means of nonlinear springs (specifically a hard symmetric potential), the chain's average deformation decreases with respect to a passive system under the same conditions. The latter result may shed light on new ways to creating an active metamaterial.