Universality class of the motility-induced critical point in large scale off-lattice simulations of active particles

TL;DR

This study uses large-scale off-lattice simulations to analyze the critical behavior of active particles undergoing motility-induced phase separation, revealing that it belongs to the Ising universality class with unique active system features.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive finite size scaling analysis showing the universality class of MIPS in active particles matches the Ising class, including novel kinetic temperature behavior.

Findings

Critical behavior aligns with the Ising universality class.

Kinetic temperature difference exhibits critical behavior with mean-field exponents.

Finite size scaling confirms universality class across large system sizes.

Abstract

We perform large-scale computer simulations of an off-lattice two-dimensional model of active particles undergoing a motility-induced phase separation (MIPS) to investigate the systems critical behaviour close to the critical point of the MIPS curve. By sampling steady-state configurations for large system sizes and performing finite size scaling analysis we provide exhaustive evidence that the critical behaviour of this active system belongs to the Ising universality class. In addition to the scaling observables that are also typical of passive systems, we study the critical behaviour of the kinetic temperature difference between the two active phases. This quantity, which is always zero in equilibrium, displays instead a critical behavior in the active system which is well described by the same exponent of the order parameter in agreement with mean-field theory.