Transverse Self-Propulsion Enhances the Aggregation of Active Dumbbells

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Digregorio, Pasquale, Moretti, Daniela, Caporusso, Claudio Basilio, Carenza, Lucio Mauro, Gonnella, Giuseppe, Negro, Giuseppe, Semeraro, Massimiliano, Suma, Antonio
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Digregorio, Pasquale
Moretti, Daniela
Caporusso, Claudio Basilio
Carenza, Lucio Mauro
Gonnella, Giuseppe
Negro, Giuseppe
Semeraro, Massimiliano
Suma, Antonio
author_facet Digregorio, Pasquale
Moretti, Daniela
Caporusso, Claudio Basilio
Carenza, Lucio Mauro
Gonnella, Giuseppe
Negro, Giuseppe
Semeraro, Massimiliano
Suma, Antonio
contents We investigate a two-dimensional system of active Brownian dumbbells using molecular dynamics simulations. In this model, each dumbbell is driven by an active force oriented perpendicular to the axis connecting its two constituent beads. We characterize the resulting phase behavior and find that, across all values of activity, the system undergoes phase separation between dilute and dense phases. The dense phase exhibits hexatic order, and for large enough activity, we observe a marked increase in local polarization, with dumbbells predominantly oriented towards the interior of the clusters. Compared to the case of axially self-propelled dumbbells, we find that the binodal region is enlarged towards lower densities at all activities. This shift arises because dumbbells with transverse propulsion can more easily form stable cluster cores, serving as nucleation seeds, and show a highly suppressed escaping rate from the cluster boundary. Finally, we observe that clusters exhibit spontaneous rotation, with the modulus of the angular velocity scaling as $ω\sim r_g^{-2}$, where $r_g$ is the cluster's radius of gyration. This contrasts with axially propelled dumbbells, where the scaling follows $ω\sim r_g^{-1}$. We develop a simplified analytical model to rationalize this scaling behavior.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_22696
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Transverse Self-Propulsion Enhances the Aggregation of Active Dumbbells
Digregorio, Pasquale
Moretti, Daniela
Caporusso, Claudio Basilio
Carenza, Lucio Mauro
Gonnella, Giuseppe
Negro, Giuseppe
Semeraro, Massimiliano
Suma, Antonio
Soft Condensed Matter
We investigate a two-dimensional system of active Brownian dumbbells using molecular dynamics simulations. In this model, each dumbbell is driven by an active force oriented perpendicular to the axis connecting its two constituent beads. We characterize the resulting phase behavior and find that, across all values of activity, the system undergoes phase separation between dilute and dense phases. The dense phase exhibits hexatic order, and for large enough activity, we observe a marked increase in local polarization, with dumbbells predominantly oriented towards the interior of the clusters. Compared to the case of axially self-propelled dumbbells, we find that the binodal region is enlarged towards lower densities at all activities. This shift arises because dumbbells with transverse propulsion can more easily form stable cluster cores, serving as nucleation seeds, and show a highly suppressed escaping rate from the cluster boundary. Finally, we observe that clusters exhibit spontaneous rotation, with the modulus of the angular velocity scaling as $ω\sim r_g^{-2}$, where $r_g$ is the cluster's radius of gyration. This contrasts with axially propelled dumbbells, where the scaling follows $ω\sim r_g^{-1}$. We develop a simplified analytical model to rationalize this scaling behavior.
title Transverse Self-Propulsion Enhances the Aggregation of Active Dumbbells
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22696