Phase Separation and Multibody Effects in Three-Dimensional Active Brownian Particles

Francesco Turci and Nigel B. Wilding
Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 038002 – Published 22 January 2021
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

Simulation studies of the phase diagram of repulsive active Brownian particles in three dimensions reveal that the region of motility-induced phase separation between a high and low density phase is enclosed by a region of gas-crystal phase separation. Near-critical loci and structural crossovers can additionally be identified in analogy with simple fluids. Motivated by the striking similarity to the behavior of equilibrium fluids with short-ranged pairwise attractions, we show that a direct mapping to pair potentials in the dilute limit implies interactions that are insufficiently attractive to engender phase separation. Instead, this is driven by the emergence of multibody effects associated with particle caging that occurs at sufficiently high number density. We quantify these effects via information-theoretical measures of n-body effective interactions extracted from the configurational structure.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 4 August 2020
  • Accepted 14 December 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.038002

© 2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft MatterStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Francesco Turci* and Nigel B. Wilding

  • H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TL, United Kingdom

  • *Corresponding author. f.turci@bristol.ac.uk

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 126, Iss. 3 — 22 January 2021

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×