Dynamics Of Active Brownian Particles Research Articles

Exact moments and re-entrant transitions in the inertial dynamics of active Brownian particles

In this study, we investigate the behavior of free inertial active Brownian particles in the presence of thermal noise. While finding a closed-form solution for the joint distribution of positions, orientations, and velocities using the Fokker–Planck equation is generally challenging, we utilize a Laplace transform method to obtain the exact temporal evolution of all dynamical moments in arbitrary dimensions. Our expressions in d dimensions reveal that inertia significantly impacts steady-state kinetic temperature and swim pressure while leaving the late-time diffusivity unchanged. Notably, as a function of activity and inertia, the steady-state velocity distribution exhibits a remarkable re-entrant crossover from ‘passive’ Gaussian to ‘active’ non-Gaussian behaviors. We construct a corresponding ‘phase diagram’ using the exact expression of the d-dimensional kurtosis. Our analytic expressions describe steady states and offer insights into time-dependent crossovers observed in moments of velocity and displacement. Our calculations can be extended to predict up to second-order moments for run-and-tumble particles and the active Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process (AOUP). Additionally, the kurtosis shows differences from AOUP.

Active Brownian particles in random and porous environments.

The transport of active particles may occur in complex environments, in which it emerges from the interplay between the mobility of the active components and the quenched disorder of the environment. Here, we explore the structural and dynamical properties of active Brownian particles (ABPs) in random environments composed of fixed obstacles in three dimensions. We consider different arrangements of the obstacles. In particular, we consider two particular situations corresponding to experimentally realizable settings. First, we model pinning particles in (non-overlapping) random positions and, second, in a percolating gel structure and provide an extensive characterization of the structure and dynamics of ABPs in these complex environments. We find that the confinement increases the heterogeneity of the dynamics, with new populations of absorbed and localized particles appearing close to the obstacles. This heterogeneity has a profound impact on the motility induced phase separation exhibited by the particles at high activity, ranging from nucleation and growth in random disorder to a complex phase separation in porous environments.

Effect of polydispersity on the dynamics of active Brownian particles.

We numerically study the dynamics and the phases of self-propelled disk-shaped particles of different sizes with soft repulsive potential in two dimensions. Size diversity is introduced by the polydispersity index (PDI) ε, which is the width of the uniform distribution of the particle's radius. The self-propulsion speed of the particles controls the activity v. We observe enhanced dynamics for large size diversity among the particles. We calculate the effective diffusion coefficient D_{eff} in the steady state. The system exhibits four distinct phases, jammed phase with small D_{eff} for small activity and liquid phase with enhanced D_{eff} for large activity. The number fluctuation is larger and smaller than the equilibrium limit in the liquid and jammed phases, respectively. Further, the jammed phase is of two types: solid jammed and liquid jammed for small and large PDI. Whereas the liquid phase is called motility induced phase separation (MIPS) liquid for small PDI and for large PDI, we find enhanced diffusivity and call it the pure liquid phase. The system is studied for three packing densities ϕ, and the response of the system for polydispersity is the same for all ϕ's. Our study can help understand the behavior of cells of various sizes in a tissue, artificial self-driven granular particles, or living organisms of different sizes in a dense environment.

Dynamics of Active Brownian Particles in Plasma.

Experimental data on the active Brownian motion of single particles in the RF (radio-frequency) discharge plasma under the influence of thermophoretic force, induced by laser radiation, depending on the material and type of surface of the particle, are presented. Unlike passive Brownian particles, active Brownian particles, also known as micro-swimmers, move directionally. It was shown that different dust particles in gas discharge plasma can convert the energy of a surrounding medium (laser radiation) into the kinetic energy of motion. The movement of the active particle is a superposition of chaotic motion and self-propulsion.

Frictional active Brownian particles

Frictional forces affect the rheology of hard-sphere colloids, at high shear rate. Here we demonstrate, via numerical simulations, that they also affect the dynamics of active Brownian particles and their motility-induced phase separation. Frictional forces increase the angular diffusivity of the particles, in the dilute phase, and prevent colliding particles from resolving their collision by sliding one past to the other. This leads to qualitatively changes of motility-induced phase diagram in the volume-fraction motility plane. While frictionless systems become unstable towards phase separation as the motility increases only if their volume fraction overcomes a threshold, frictional systems become unstable regardless of their volume fraction. These results suggest the possibility of controlling the motility-induced phase diagram by tuning the roughness of the particles.

Collective dynamics of active Brownian particles in three spatial dimensions: A predictive field theory

We investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of spherical active Brownian particles in three spatial dimensions that interact via a pair potential. The investigation is based on a predictive local field theory that is derived by a rigorous coarse-graining starting from the overdamped Langevin dynamics of the particles. This field theory is highly accurate and applicable even for the highest activities. It includes configurational order parameters and derivatives up to infinite orders. We present also three finite reduced models that result from the general field theory by suitable approximations and are easier to apply. Furthermore, we use the general field theory and the simplest one of the reduced models to derive analytic expressions for the density-dependent mean swimming speed and the spinodal corresponding to the onset of motility-induced phase separation of the particles, respectively. Both of these results show a good agreement with recent findings described in the literature. The analytic result for the spinodal yields also a prediction for the associated critical point whose position has not been determined before.

Pair-distribution function of active Brownian spheres in two spatial dimensions: Simulation results and analytic representation.

We investigate the full pair-distribution function of a homogeneous suspension of spherical active Brownian particles interacting by a Weeks-Chandler-Andersen potential in two spatial dimensions. The full pair-distribution function depends on three coordinates describing the relative positions and orientations of two particles, the Péclet number specifying the activity of the particles, and their mean packing density. This five-dimensional function is obtained from Brownian dynamics simulations. We discuss its structure taking into account all of its degrees of freedom. In addition, we present an approximate analytic expression for the product of the full pair-distribution function and the interparticle force. We find that the analytic expression, which is typically needed when deriving analytic models for the collective dynamics of active Brownian particles, is in good agreement with the simulation results. The results of this work can thus be expected to be helpful for the further theoretical investigation of active Brownian particles as well as nonequilibrium statistical physics in general.

PREPARATION OF THE COSMIC EXPERIMENT "COULOMB-PLASMA"

Studies of dusty plasma have been actively carried out for about a quarter of a century in many laboratories on Earth, and on board the International Space Station under microgravity conditions. At present, a new experiment is being prepared. We describe the goals and objectives of the experiment, its features and differences from previous experiments, explain the need for it in microgravity. The objective of the experiment is to study the evolution of the open dissipative systems of strongly interacting macroparticles in a gas-discharge plasma, to obtain data on phase transitions and dynamics of active Brownian particles and dynamics of defects and dislocations in plasma-dust structures. Key words: dusty plasma, microgravity, cosmic experiment, open thermodynamic systems, active Brownian particles

Enhanced dynamics of active Brownian particles in periodic obstacle arrays and corrugated channels.

We study the motion of an active Brownian particle (ABP) using the overdamped Langevin dynamics on a two-dimensional substrate with periodic array of obstacles and in a quasi-one-dimensional corrugated channel comprised of periodically arrayed obstacles. The periodic arrangement of the obstacles enhances the persistent motion of the ABP in comparison to its motion in the free space. Persistent motion increases with the activity of the ABP. We note that the periodic arrangement induces directionality in ABP motion at late time, and it increases with the size of the obstacles. We also note that the ABP exhibits a super-diffusive dynamics in the corrugated channel. The transport property is independent of the shape of the channel; rather it depends on the packing fraction of the obstacles in the system. However, the ABP shows the usual diffusive dynamics in the quasi-one-dimensional channel with flat boundary.

Mode-coupling theory for the steady-state dynamics of active Brownian particles.

We present a theory for the steady-state dynamics of a two-dimensional system of spherically symmetric active Brownian particles. The derivation of the theory consists of two steps. First, we integrate out the self-propulsions and obtain a many-particle evolution equation for the probability distribution of the particles' positions. Second, we use the projection operator technique and a mode-coupling-like factorization approximation to derive an equation of motion for the density correlation function. The nonequilibrium character of the active system manifests itself through the presence of a steady-state correlation function that quantifies spatial correlations of microscopic steady-state currents of the particles. This function determines the dependence of the short-time dynamics on the activity. It also enters into the expression for the memory matrix and thus influences the long-time glassy dynamics.

Dynamical mean-field theory and weakly non-linear analysis for the phase separation of active Brownian particles

Recently, we have derived an effective Cahn-Hilliard equation for the phase separation dynamics of active Brownian particles by performing a weakly non-linear analysis of the effective hydrodynamic equations for density and polarization [Speck et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 218304 (2014)]. Here, we develop and explore this strategy in more detail and show explicitly how to get to such a large-scale, mean-field description starting from the microscopic dynamics. The effective free energy emerging from this approach has the form of a conventional Ginzburg-Landau function. On the coarsest scale, our results thus agree with the mapping of active phase separation onto that of passive fluids with attractive interactions through a global effective free energy (motility-induced phase transition). Particular attention is paid to the square-gradient term necessary for the phase separation kinetics. We finally discuss results from numerical simulations corroborating the analytical results.

Some applications of stochastic averaging method for quasi Hamiltonian systems in physics

Many physical systems can be modeled as quasi-Hamiltonian systems and the stochastic averaging method for quasi-Hamiltonian systems can be applied to yield reasonable approximate response statistics. In the present paper, the basic idea and procedure of the stochastic averaging method for quasi Hamiltonian systems are briefly introduced. The applications of the stochastic averaging method in studying the dynamics of active Brownian particles, the reaction rate theory, the dynamics of breathing and denaturation of DNA, and the Fermi resonance and its effect on the mean transition time are reviewed.

STOCHASTIC DYNAMICS OF ACTIVE AGENTS IN EXTERNAL FIELDS

We study dynamics of active Brownian particles in two dimensions under the influence of external fields of forces. Several generic fields are considered, including symmetric linear attraction to a center, asymmetric linear attraction and a field described by a double well potential. We show the formation of limit cycles, which reflect collective rotational motion of the particles and study the influence of asymmetry on collective motion. In the case of the double well potential we study the transition rates between potential wells and show their crucial dependence on a parameter which determines activeness of the particles.