Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Macroscopic phase segregation in binary active mixtures can emerge solely from clutter noise: local, composition-dependent stochasticity, without repulsion or anti-alignment torques. Using an agent-based Vicsek model, we show that clutter noise alone destabilizes the mixed state, producing multi-stripe, co-moving band, and metastable counter-propagating morphologies, as well as a stable phase-segregated polar fluid. Our hydrodynamic theory shows that clutter noise suppresses local polar order and transport efficiency, consistent with the demixing observed in the agent-based model.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Institution: Universitat de Barcelona
Language: English
Topic: Micro and Nano Robotics
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7223230979