Work

Active diffusing crystals in a 2D non-equilibrium system

Year: 2025

Type: preprint

Abstract: We investigate a 2D dynamical absorbing state model of monodisperse disks, in which rich phase behavior arises from interactions consisting solely of repulsive displacements between overlapping particles. The phase diagram reveals several unconventional features, including a disordered and static absorbing configuration, where no particles overlap, separated by a second-order phase transition to a continuously evolving active hexagonal crystal with collective ring diffusion, which in turn undergoes a first-order phase transition to an active isotropic liquid. The only driving parameter is $ε$, the maximum size of the random repulsive kicks. Small $ε$ facilitates self-organization into an ordered state, but large $ε$ prevents this organization from occurring. This is very different from typical order-disorder transitions, where there are two competing influences, energy and entropy, that drive the transition.

Source: arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2512.19277

Authors: Guo, Ashley Z., Wilken, Sam, Levine, Dov, Chaikin, Paul M.

Institutions: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, New York University

Topic: Theoretical and Computational Physics

Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University, Division of Materials Research, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems, Basic Energy Sciences

Awards: G1472743852, G1675246941, Population Variability and Distributions from Absorbing State Dynamics, G2199371856, ISS: GOALI: Nonequilibrium Processing of Particle Suspensions with Thermal and Electrical Field Gradients, ENERGY-EFFICIENT SELF-ORGANIZATION AND SWARM BEHAVIOR IN ACTIVE MATTER, G469091498, TAS::89 0227::TAS RECOVERY; NEW: RECOVERY ACT - CENTER FOR INTEGRATED TRAINING IN FAR-FROM-EQUILIBRIUM AND ADAPTIVE MATERIALS (CITFAM) -- EFRC; PI -, NYU Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, TAS::89 0227::TAS RECOVERY; NEW: RECOVERY ACT - CENTER FOR INTEGRATED TRAINING IN FAR-FROM-EQUILIBRIUM AND ADAPTIVE MATERIALS (CITFAM) -- EFRC; PI -, G7998580132, G821361635

OpenAlex ID: W7117100877

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