Collective motion of self-propelled particles: kinetic phase transition in one dimension

TL;DR

This paper reveals that one-dimensional self-propelled particles can spontaneously organize and break symmetry, supported by a new continuum theory aligning with the discrete model's universality class.

Contribution

It introduces a novel continuum theory explaining symmetry breaking in 1D SPP systems, challenging previous analytical predictions.

Findings

SPP systems exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking in 1D.

A new continuum theory accounts for the symmetry broken state.

The theory belongs to the same universality class as the discrete model.

Abstract

We demonstrate that a system of self-propelled particles (SPP) exhibits spontaneous symmetry breaking and self-organization in one dimension, in contrast with previous analytical predictions. To explain this surprising result we derive a new continuum theory that can account for the development of the symmetry broken state and belongs to the same universality class as the discrete SPP model.