Interacting Particle Systems Modeling Self-Propelled Motions

TL;DR

This paper introduces stochastic models for self-propelled camphor disks on water, capturing individual and collective behaviors, including phase transitions, by integrating non-equilibrium fluctuations into existing deterministic frameworks.

Contribution

It develops a new stochastic modeling approach for camphor disk motions, incorporating random walks to account for fluctuations, extending previous deterministic models.

Findings

Models reproduce self-propelled motions and interactions.

Identification of phase transitions in motion behavior.

Agreement between stochastic and averaged dynamical systems.

Abstract

In non-equilibrium statistical physics, active matters in both living and non-living systems have been extensively studied. In particular, self-propelled particle systems provide challenging research subjects in experimental and theoretical physics, since individual and collective behaviors of units performing persistent motions can not be described by usual fluctuation theory for equilibrium systems. A typical example of man-made self-propelled systems which can be easily handled in small-sized experiments is a system of camphor floats put on the surface of water. Based on the experimental and theoretical studied by Nishimori et al. (J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 86 (2017) 101012), we propose a new type of mathematical models for complex motions of camphor disks on the surface of water. In the previous mathematical models introduced by Nishimori et al. are coupled systems of the equations of motion for camphor disks described by ordinary differential equations and the partial differential equation for the concentration field of camphor molecules in water. Here we consider coupled systems of equation of motions of camphor disks and random walks representing individual camphor molecules in water. In other words, we take into account non-equilibrium fluctuations by introducing stochastic processes into the deterministic models. Numerical simulation shows that our models can represent self-propelled motions of individual camphor disk as well as repulsive interactions among them. We focus on the one-dimensional models in which viscosity is dominant, and derive a dynamical system of a camphor disk by taking the average of random variables of our stochastic system. By studying both of stochastic models and dynamical systems, we clarify the transitions between three phases of motions for a camphor disk depending on parameters.