Generic nonlocal statistics of the stationary measure in conserved active systems

Abstract

The stationary measure of equilibrium systems with detailed balance follows a Boltzmann distribution, so that for short-ranged interactions the measure is local, meaning that distant spatial domains are statistically independent. In contrast, active systems break detailed balance, and can have nonlocal stationary measure even for fully local dynamics. Here, by expanding in nonlinearity about a Gaussian-model limit, we construct the measure perturbatively deep in the disordered phase for a class of models that includes Active Model A, Active Model B+, Model AB, the Nonreciprocal Cahn--Hilliard model, and the Toner--Tu model. In this regime, nonlocality is linked to a dynamical conservation law. Our results generically preclude construction of a Landau--Ginzburg expansion of the stationary measure (as opposed to the dynamical equations) for conserved active field theories.