Order-disorder transition in incompressible polar active fluids with an easy axis.

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Authors: Leiming Chen, Chiu Fan Lee, John Toner
Cited by: 0

Abstract

Dry active matter in an anisotropic medium is of experimental relevance, and the interplay between anisotropy and the dynamics of the active matter remains under-explored. Here, we derive the hydrodynamic equations of a generic dry polar active fluid that preferentially flows along a particular axis induced by the anisotropy of the medium. We then study its critical behavior at the order-disorder transition in which the symmetry between "forward" and "back" along the special axis is spontaneously broken. We obtain the critical static and dynamic exponents, mean velocity, and two-point correlation functions exactly in three dimensions, and to two-loop level in two dimensions, by mapping our class of systems to the equilibrium Ising model with dipolar interactions.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Micro and Nano Robotics Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics Characterization and Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles

Publication details

Journal / source
PubMed
Volume
113
Issue
5-1
Pages
054142–054142
Publication date
1 May 2026
Language
EN