Athermal Phase Separation of Self-Propelled Particles with No Alignment

Yaouen Fily and M. Cristina Marchetti
Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 235702 – Published 8 June 2012

Abstract

We study numerically and analytically a model of self-propelled polar disks on a substrate in two dimensions. The particles interact via isotropic repulsive forces and are subject to rotational noise, but there is no aligning interaction. As a result, the system does not exhibit an ordered state. The isotropic fluid phase separates well below close packing and exhibits the large number fluctuations and clustering found ubiquitously in active systems. Our work shows that this behavior is a generic property of systems that are driven out of equilibrium locally, as for instance by self-propulsion.

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  • Received 23 January 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.235702

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Yaouen Fily1 and M. Cristina Marchetti1,2

  • 1Physics Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA
  • 2Syracuse Biomaterials Institute, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA

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Issue

Vol. 108, Iss. 23 — 8 June 2012

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