Emergent short-range repulsion for attractively coupled active particles

TL;DR

Heterogeneity in self-propulsion speeds among active particles can induce a universal short-range repulsion, counteracting attractive interactions, with potential implications for understanding active matter systems.

Contribution

This work reveals that heterogeneity in propulsion speeds can generate an emergent repulsive interaction in active particles, a phenomenon previously unrecognized.

Findings

Heterogeneity induces a characteristic repulsion length scale.

The repulsion scale increases algebraically with speed differences.

Activity can lead to effective repulsion, contrary to conventional attraction.

Abstract

We show that heterogeneity in self-propulsion speed can lead to the emergence of a robust effective short-range repulsion among active particles interacting via long-range attractive potentials. Using the example of harmonically coupled active Brownian particles, we analytically derive the stationary distribution of the pairwise distances and reveal that the heterogeneity in propulsion speeds induces a characteristic scale of repulsion between particles. This length scale algebraically increases with the difference in their self-propulsion speeds. In contrast to the conventional view that activity in active matter systems typically leads to effective attraction, our results demonstrate that activity can give rise to an emergent repulsive interaction. This phenomenon is universal, independent of the specific dynamics of the particles or the presence of thermal fluctuations. We also discuss possible experimental realization of this counter-intuitive phenomenon.