Vacuum bubble and fissure formation in collective motion with competing attractive and repulsive forces
Abstract
Abstract We study the continuum limit of the motion of agents in the plane driven by competing short-range repulsion and long-range attractive forces. At a critical parameter value, we find destabilization of a trivial branch of uniformly distributed solutions and analyse bifurcating solutions. Curiously, the bifurcating branch is vertical, leading to a reversible, non-hysteretic phase transition. Near the bifurcation point, we demonstrate scaling laws for the size of vacuum regions, which can form fissures or bubbles. We also study the effect of small noise and the eventual topological transition from vacuum bubbles to isolated particle clusters.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Pickering emulsions and particle stabilization
Fluid Dynamics and Mixing
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of Nonlinear Waves
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Volume
- 2
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN