Abstract
Mixtures of active and passive particles are predicted to exhibit a variety of nonequilibrium phases. Here we report a dynamic clustering phase in mixtures of colloids and motile bacteria. We show that colloidal clustering results from a balance between bond breaking due to persistent active motion and bond stabilization due to torques that align active particle velocity tangentially to the passive particle surface. Furthermore, dynamic clustering spans a broad regime between diffusivity-based and motility-induced phase separation that subsumes typical bacterial motility parameters.
- Received 5 October 2021
- Revised 14 February 2022
- Accepted 7 April 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.105.054605
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