Abstract
Systems composed of strongly interacting self-propelled particles can form a spontaneously flowing polar active fluid. The study of the connection between the microscopic dynamics of a single such particle and the macroscopic dynamics of the fluid can yield insights into experimentally realizable active flows, but this connection is well understood in only a few select cases. We introduce a model of self-propelled particles based on an analogy with the motion of electrons that have strong spin-orbit coupling. We find that, within our model, self-propelled particles are subject to an analog of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle that relates translational and rotational noise. Furthermore, by coarse-graining this microscopic model, we establish expressions for the coefficients of the Toner-Tu equations - the hydrodynamic equations that describe an active fluid composed of these 'active spins.' The connection between stochastic self-propelled particles and quantum particles with spin may help realize exotic phases of matter using active fluids via analogies with systems composed of strongly correlated electrons.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 013020 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | New Journal of Physics |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 11 Jan 2018 |
Funding
We thank DBartolo, JToner, VVitelli, and RHipolito for insightful discussions. This work was supported in part by NSF DMR-1207026. BL would like to thank CONICYT for their support through the Becas Chile program as well as acknowledge financial support at Syracuse University through the National Science Foundation grant DMR-1609208 and the Syracuse Soft & Living Matter Program. ASacknowledges funding from the Delta Institute for Theoretical Physics and from the University of Chicago Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, which is funded by the National Science Foundation under award number DMR-1420709. PMG acknowledges for its hospitality the Aspen Center for Physics, which is supported by National Science Foundation grant PHY-1607611.
Keywords
- active fluids
- quantum-classical analogies
- spin-orbit coupling
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Physics and Astronomy