Lane formation in a driven attractive fluid

TL;DR

This study explores how attractive interactions influence lane formation in a driven two-dimensional Lennard-Jones fluid, revealing new states and connections to phase instabilities through simulations and theoretical analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of lane formation in attractive fluids, combining Brownian Dynamics simulations with dynamical density functional theory to uncover new structural phenomena.

Findings

Identification of diverse lane structures in attractive fluids

Link between laning and phase instabilities like demixing and condensation

Validation of theoretical predictions with simulation results

Abstract

We investigate non-equilibrium lane formation in a generic model of a fluid with attractive interactions, that is, a two-dimensional Lennard-Jones (LJ) fluid composed of two particle species driven in opposite directions. Performing Brownian Dynamics (BD) simulations for a wide range of parameters, supplemented by a stability analysis based on dynamical density functional theory (DDFT), we identify generic features of lane formation in presence of attraction, including structural properties. In fact, we find a variety of states (as compared to purely repulsive systems), as well as a close relation between laning and long wavelength instabilities of the homogeneous phase such as demixing and condensation.