Work

Active crystallization from power functional theory

Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: We address the gas, liquid, and crystal phase behaviors of active Brownian particles in three dimensions. The nonequilibrium force balance at coexistence leads to equality of state functions for which we use power functional approximations. Motility-induced phase separation starts at a critical point and quickly becomes metastable against active freezing for Péclet numbers above a nonequilibrium triple point. The mean swim speed acts as a state variable, similar to the density of depletion agents in colloidal demixing. We obtain agreement with recent simulation results and correctly predict the strength of particle number fluctuations in active fluids.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4392099448
FWCI: 0.868
Cites: 63
Cited by: 6
Related to: 10