Intrinsic structure perspective for MIPS interfaces in two dimensional systems of Active Brownian Particles

TL;DR

This paper investigates the intrinsic structure of MIPS interfaces in 2D Active Brownian Particles, revealing how local force rectification and particle caging influence phase separation and interface properties.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of 2D-ABP interfaces using intrinsic density and force profiles, providing new insights into the origin of MIPS from local active force effects.

Findings

Most of the pressure gradient effect comes from caged particles at the dense side.

Interfacial structure is similar for purely repulsive and attractive interactions under strong activity.

Hexatic order decay correlates with the end of MIPS as activity decreases.

Abstract

Suspensions of Active Brownian Particles (ABP) undergo motility induced phase separation (MIPS) over a wide range of mean density and activity strength [1], even in the absence of an explicit attraction. Negative values of the mechanical surface tension have been reported, from the total forces across the interface, while the stable fluctuations of the interfacial line would be interpreted as a positive capillary surface tension [2], while in equilibrium liquid surfaces these two magnitudes are equal. We present here the analysis of 2D-ABP interfaces in terms of the intrinsic density and force profiles, calculated with the particle distance to the instantaneous interfacial line. Our results provide a new insight in the origin of the MIPS from the local rectification of the random active force on the particles near the interface. As it had been pointed, that effect acts as an external potential [3] that produces a pressure gradient across the interface, so that the mechanical surface tension of the MIPS cannot be described as that of equilibrium coexisting phases; but our analysis shows that most of that effect comes from the tightly caged particles at the dense (inner) side of the MIPS interface, rather than from the free moving particles at the outer side that collide with the dense cluster. Moreover, a clear correlation appears between the decay of the hexatic order parameter at the dense slab and the end of the MIPS as the strength of the active force is lowered. We test that with the strong active forces required for MIPS, the interfacial structure and properties are very similar for ABP with purely repulsive (WCA-LJ model truncated at its minimum) and when the interaction includes a range of the LJ attractive force.