No Arabic abstract
Active particles may happen to be confined in channels so narrow that they cannot overtake each other (Single File conditions). This interesting situation reveals nontrivial physical features as a consequence of the strong inter-particle correlations developed in collective rearrangements. We consider a minimal model for active Brownian particles with the aim of studying the modifications introduced by activity with respect to the classical (passive) Single File picture. Depending on whether their motion is dominated by translational or rotational diffusion, we find that active Brownian particles in Single File may arrange into clusters which are continuously merging and splitting ({it active clusters}) or merely reproduce passive-motion paradigms, respectively. We show that activity convey to self-propelled particles a strategic advantage for trespassing narrow channels against external biases (e.g., the gravitational field).
Active Brownian particles (ABPs) and Run-and-Tumble particles (RTPs) both self-propel at fixed speed $v$ along a body-axis ${bf u}$ that reorients either through slow angular diffusion (ABPs) or sudden complete randomisation (RTPs). We compare the physics of these two model systems both at microscopic and macroscopic scales. Using exact results for their steady-state distribution in the presence of external potentials, we show that they both admit the same effective equilibrium regime perturbatively that breaks down for stronger external potentials, in a model-dependent way. In the presence of collisional repulsions such particles slow down at high density: their propulsive effort is unchanged, but their average speed along ${bf u}$ becomes $v(rho) < v$. A fruitful avenue is then to construct a mean-field description in which particles are ghost-like and have no collisions, but swim at a variable speed $v$ that is an explicit function or functional of the density $rho$. We give numerical evidence that the recently shown equivalence of the fluctuating hydrodynamics of ABPs and RTPs in this case, which we detail here, extends to microscopic models of ABPs and RTPs interacting with repulsive forces.
Single-file Brownian motion in periodic structures is an important process in nature and technology, which becomes increasingly amenable for experimental investigation under controlled conditions. To explore and understand generic features of this motion, the Brownian asymmetric simple exclusion process (BASEP) was recently introduced. The BASEP refers to diffusion models, where hard spheres are driven by a constant drag force through a periodic potential. Here, we derive general properties of the rich collective dynamics in the BASEP. Average currents in the steady state change dramatically with the particle size and density. For an open system coupled to particle reservoirs, extremal current principles predict various nonequilibrium phases, which we verify by Brownian dynamics simulations. For general pair interactions we discuss connections to single-file transport by traveling-wave potentials and prove the impossibility of current reversals in systems driven by a constant drag and by traveling waves.
The equilibrium properties of a system of passive diffusing particles in an external magnetic field are unaffected by the Lorentz force. In contrast, active Brownian particles exhibit steady-state phenomena that depend on both the strength and the polarity of the applied magnetic field. The intriguing effects of the Lorentz force, however, can only be observed when out-of-equilibrium density gradients are maintained in the system. To this end, we use the method of stochastic resetting on active Brownian particles in two dimensions by resetting them to the line $x=0$ at a constant rate and periodicity in the $y$ direction. Under stochastic resetting, an active system settles into a nontrivial stationary state which is characterized by an inhomogeneous density distribution, polarization and bulk fluxes perpendicular to the density gradients. We show that whereas for a uniform magnetic field the properties of the stationary state of the active system can be obtained from its passive counterpart, novel features emerge in the case of an inhomogeneous magnetic field which have no counterpart in passive systems. In particular, there exists an activity-dependent threshold rate such that for smaller resetting rates, the density distribution of active particles becomes non-monotonic. We also study the mean first-passage time to the $x$ axis and find a surprising result: it takes an active particle more time to reach the target from any given point for the case when the magnetic field increases away from the axis. The theoretical predictions are validated using Brownian dynamics simulations.
Microorganisms such as bacteria are active matters which consume chemical energy and generate their unique run-and-tumble motion. A swarm of such microorganisms provide a nonequilibrium active environment whose noise characteristics are different from those of thermal equilibrium reservoirs. One important difference is a finite persistence time, which is considerably large compared to that of the equilibrium noise, that is, the active noise is colored. Here, we study a mesoscopic energy-harvesting device (engine) with active reservoirs harnessing this noise nature. For a simple linear model, we analytically show that the engine efficiency can surpass the conventional Carnot bound, thus the power-efficiency tradeoff constraint is released, and the efficiency at the maximum power can overcome the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency. We find that the supremacy of the active engine critically depends on the time-scale symmetry of two active reservoirs.
We study the linear response of interacting active Brownian particles in an external potential to simple shear flow. Using a path integral approach, we derive the linear response of any state observable to initiating shear in terms of correlation functions evaluated in the unperturbed system. For systems and observables which are symmetric under exchange of the $x$ and $y$ coordinates, the response formula can be drastically simplified to a form containing only state variables in the corresponding correlation functions (compared to the generic formula containing also time derivatives). In general, the shear couples to the particles by translational as well as rotational advection, but in the aforementioned case of $xy$ symmetry only translational advection is relevant in the linear regime. We apply the response formulas analytically in solvable cases and numerically in a specific setup. In particular, we investigate the effect of a shear flow on the morphology and the stress of $N$ confined active particles in interaction, where we find that the activity as well as additional alignment interactions generally increase the response.