Defect-Mediated Phase Transitions in Active Soft Matter
Authored by Christoph A Weber, Christopher Bock, Erwin Frey
Date Published: 2014
DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.112.168301
Sponsors:
German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG)
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No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
How do topological defects affect the degree of order in active matter?
To answer this question we investigate an agent-based model of
self-propelled particles, which accounts for polar alignment and
short-ranged repulsive interactions. For strong alignment forces we find
collectively moving polycrystalline states with fluctuating networks of
grain boundaries. In the regime where repulsive forces dominate, the
fluctuations generated by the active system give rise to
quasi-long-range transitional order, but-unlike the thermal
system-without creating topological defects.
Tags
Model
Motion
Long-range order
2 dimensions
Filaments