Chirality, confinement and dimensionality govern re-entrant transitions in active matter

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Pattanayak, Anweshika, Shee, Amir, Chaudhuri, Debasish, Chaudhuri, Abhishek
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866909975666753536
author Pattanayak, Anweshika
Shee, Amir
Chaudhuri, Debasish
Chaudhuri, Abhishek
author_facet Pattanayak, Anweshika
Shee, Amir
Chaudhuri, Debasish
Chaudhuri, Abhishek
contents The non-equilibrium dynamics of individual chiral active particles underpin the complex behavior of chiral active matter. Here we present an exact analytical framework, supported by simulations, to characterize the steady states of two-dimensional chiral active Brownian particles and three-dimensional torque-driven counterparts in a harmonic trap. Using a Laplace-transform approach of the Fokker-Planck equation, we derive closed-form expressions for displacement moments and excess kurtosis, providing a precise probe of non-Gaussian statistics. Our analysis reveals three distinct regimes: bimodal active states with off-center peaks, Gaussian-like passive states, and weakly heavy-tailed distributions unique to two dimensions. We show that dimensionality plays a decisive role: in two dimensions, increasing chirality suppresses activity and restores passive behavior, while in three dimensions torque preserves activity along the torque axis, producing anisotropic steady states. These behaviors are captured by simple active length-scale arguments that map the boundaries between passive and active phases. Our results offer concrete experimental signatures - including kurtosis crossovers, off-center peaks, and torque-induced anisotropy - that establish confinement as a powerful tool to probe and control chiral and torque-driven active matter.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_03448
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Chirality, confinement and dimensionality govern re-entrant transitions in active matter
Pattanayak, Anweshika
Shee, Amir
Chaudhuri, Debasish
Chaudhuri, Abhishek
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Biological Physics
The non-equilibrium dynamics of individual chiral active particles underpin the complex behavior of chiral active matter. Here we present an exact analytical framework, supported by simulations, to characterize the steady states of two-dimensional chiral active Brownian particles and three-dimensional torque-driven counterparts in a harmonic trap. Using a Laplace-transform approach of the Fokker-Planck equation, we derive closed-form expressions for displacement moments and excess kurtosis, providing a precise probe of non-Gaussian statistics. Our analysis reveals three distinct regimes: bimodal active states with off-center peaks, Gaussian-like passive states, and weakly heavy-tailed distributions unique to two dimensions. We show that dimensionality plays a decisive role: in two dimensions, increasing chirality suppresses activity and restores passive behavior, while in three dimensions torque preserves activity along the torque axis, producing anisotropic steady states. These behaviors are captured by simple active length-scale arguments that map the boundaries between passive and active phases. Our results offer concrete experimental signatures - including kurtosis crossovers, off-center peaks, and torque-induced anisotropy - that establish confinement as a powerful tool to probe and control chiral and torque-driven active matter.
title Chirality, confinement and dimensionality govern re-entrant transitions in active matter
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.03448