Collective behavior

Physics

Statistical physics

Sociology

Chemical physics

Work (physics)

Anthropology

Materials science

Fluidization

Fluidized bed

Condensed matter physics

Active matter

Phase (matter)

Quantum mechanics

Phase diagram

Biology

Cell biology

Thermodynamics

Communications Physics

Dense active systems are widespread in nature, examples range from bacterial colonies to biological tissues. Dense clusters of active particles can be obtained by increasing the packing fraction of the system or taking advantage of a peculiar phenomenon named motility-induced phase separation (MIPS). In this work, we explore the phase diagram of a two-dimensional model of active glass and show that disordered active materials develop a rich collective behaviour encompassing both MIPS and glassiness. We find that, although the glassy state is almost indistinguishable from that of equilibrium glasses, the mechanisms leading to its fluidization do not have any equilibrium counterpart. Our results can be rationalized in terms of a crossover between a low-activity regime, where glassy dynamics is controlled by an effective temperature, and a high-activity regime, which drives the system towards MIPS.

From motility-induced phase-separation to glassiness in dense active matter