Transport coefficients in dense active Brownian particle systems: mode-coupling theory and simulation results.

Eur Phys J E Soft Matter

Institut für Materialphysik im Weltraum, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), 51170, Cologne, Germany.

Published: March 2021

We discuss recent advances in developing a mode-coupling theory of the glass transition (MCT) of two-dimensional systems of active Brownian particles (ABPs). The theory describes the structural relaxation close to the active glass in terms of transient dynamical density correlation functions. We summarize the equations of motion that have been derived for the collective density-fluctuation dynamics and those for the tagged-particle motion. The latter allow to study the dynamics of both passive and active tracers in both passive and active host systems. In the limit of small wave numbers, they give rise to equations of motion describing the mean-squared displacements (MSDs) of these tracers and hence the long-time diffusion coefficients as a transport coefficient quantifying long-range tracer motion. We specifically discuss the case of a single ABP tracer in a glass-forming passive host suspension, a case that has recently been studied in experiments on colloidal Janus particles. We employ event-driven Brownian dynamics (ED-BD) computer simulations to test the ABP-MCT and find good agreement between the two for the MSD, provided that known errors in MCT already for the passive system (i.e., an overestimation of the glassiness of the system) are accounted for by an empirical mapping of packing fractions and host-system self-propulsion forces. The ED-BD simulation results also compare well to experimental data, although a peculiar non-monotonic mapping of self-propulsion velocities is required. The ABP-MCT predicts a specific self-propulsion dependence of the Stokes-Einstein relation between the long-time diffusion coefficient and the host-system viscosity that matches well the results from simulation. An application of ABP-MCT within the integration-through transients framework to calculate the density-renormalized effective swim velocity of the interacting ABP agrees qualitatively with the ED-BD simulation data at densities close to the glass transition and quantitatively for the full density range only after the mapping of packing fractions employed for the passive system.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7952338PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epje/s10189-021-00039-4DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

active brownian
8
mode-coupling theory
8
glass transition
8
equations motion
8
passive active
8
long-time diffusion
8
passive system
8
mapping packing
8
packing fractions
8
ed-bd simulation
8

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!