Collective motion of active particles in environmental noise**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 91427302, 91027040, and 11474155) and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2012CB821500).

Abstract

We study the collective motion of active particles in environmental noise, where the environmental noise is caused by noise particles randomly diffusing in two-dimensional space. We show that active particles in a noisy environment can self organize into three typical phases: polar liquid, band, and disordered gas states. In our model, the transition between band and disordered gas states is discontinuous. Giant number fluctuation is observed in the polar liquid phase. We also compare our results with the Vicsek model and show that the interaction with noise particles can stabilize the band state to very low noise condition. This band structure could recruit most of the active particles in the system, which greatly enhances the coherence of the system. Our findings of complex collective behaviors in environmental noise help us to understand how individuals modify their self-organization by environmental factors, which may further contribute to improving the design of collective migration and navigation strategies.