arXiv subjects

Chul-Ung Woo

Publications and source records attributed to Chul-Ung Woo.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Trajectory Statistics Govern Mechanical Power Transfer in Active Baths

The mechanical response of a moving probe in an active bath reflects both the dynamics of the bath and how the probe couples to it. For a probe moving at velocity $\mathbf V$ and interacting weakly with an ideal active bath, we show that the trajectory statistics of a free bath particle determine a density response from which the bath force on the probe follows. The probe-particle interaction determines how this response is weighted over wave vector $\mathbf q$, while the probe motion selects frequencies $ω_{\mathbf q}=\mathbf q\cdot \mathbf V$. This trajectory-response relation separates the bath dynamics from the wave-vector weighting, so neither the stationary state nor force correlations need to be recalculated for each probe interaction and velocity. Applying this relation to active-particle models, we prove that positive power transfer is excluded for active Ornstein--Uhlenbeck particles in all dimensions and for complete-reset run-and-tumble particles in $d\geq2$, while one-dimensional run-and-tumble particles and two-dimensional active Brownian particles possess modes that can transfer positive mechanical power. For a given probe, this response predicts drag reversal, spontaneous probe motion, and motion-induced density distortions, all in quantitative agreement with simulations. Varying the probe geometry changes how the same bath response is weighted, thereby selecting different moving states. Beyond the leading weak-probe, ideal-bath limit, higher orders in probe strength involve multi-interval trajectory statistics, while finite-density corrections involve interacting-particle dynamics. Our results connect the trajectory statistics of active bath particles to the mechanical response of a passive probe, providing a route to predict probe response from single-particle trajectory statistics measured in the absence of the probe.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Collective behavior in the nonreciprocal multi-species Vicsek model

We investigate collective behavior in a $Q$-species Vicsek model with a nonreciprocal velocity alignment interaction. This system is characterized by a constant phase shift $α$ in the inter-species velocity alignment rule. While the phase shift renders the interaction nonreciprocal, the system is globally invariant under any permutations of particle species, possessing Potts symmetry. The combination of Potts symmetry and nonreciprocity gives rise to a rich phase diagram. The nonreciprocal phase shift generates either counter-clockwise or clockwise chirality. Potts symmetry can be broken spontaneously. Consequently, the system exhibits four distinct phases: A species-mixed chiral phase where particles perform counter-clockwise chiral motion with quasi-long-range order, a species separation phase where Potts symmetry is broken and species-separated particles form vortex cells with clockwise chirality, a coexistence phase, and a disordered phase, for $0<α<π$. We derive a Boltzmann equation and a hydrodynamic equation describing the system in the continuum limit, and present analytic arguments for the emergence of chirality and species separation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Extensive Spatio-Temporal Chaos in Non-reciprocal Flocking

Non-reciprocal interactions in active matter give rise to a multitude of fascinating phenomena among which are collective oscillatory states without intrinsic particle chirality and active turbulence. Here we show that in a paradigmatic model for non-reciprocal flocking, the two species Vicsek model, these two states coexist: chiral order for small flocks, and extensive spatiotemporal chaos for large flocks, both separated by a finite-wavelength instability whose scale is set by the rotation radius of the chiral orbits. For system sizes larger than this length scale extensive spatiotemporal chaos unfolds, as manifested by an extensive number of positive Lyapunov exponents as well as of Floquet exponents, a finite correlation and chaotic length and a broad energy spectrum. Our results suggest that complex, turbulent behavior is a generic possibility in systems where particles or fields interact asymmetrically, and may have significant implications for understanding how non-reciprocal interactions could drive chaotic, fluid-like behavior in active matter.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Nonreciprocal yet Symmetric Multi-Species Active Matter: Emergence of Chirality and Species Separation

Nonreciprocal active matter systems typically feature an asymmetric role among interacting agents, such as a pursuer-evader relationship. We propose a multi-species nonreciprocal active matter model that is invariant under permutations of the particle species. The nonreciprocal, yet symmetric, interactions emerge from a constant phase shift in the velocity alignment interactions, rather than from an asymmetric coupling matrix. This system possessing permutation symmetry displays rich collective behaviors, including a species-mixed chiral phase with quasi-long-range polar order and a species separation phase characterized by vortex cells. The system also displays a coexistence phase of the chiral and the species separation phases, in which intriguing dynamic patterns emerge. These rich collective behaviors are a consequence of the interplay between nonreciprocity and permutation symmetry.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Motility-Induced Pinning in Flocking System with Discrete Symmetry

We report a motility-induced pinning transition in the active Ising model for a self-propelled particle system with discrete symmetry. This model was known to exhibit a liquid-gas type flocking phase transition, but a recent study reveals that the polar order is metastable due to droplet excitation. Using extensive Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate that, for an intermediate alignment interaction strength, the steady state is characterized by traveling local domains, which renders the polar order short-ranged in both space and time. We further demonstrate that interfaces between colliding domains become pinned as the alignment interaction strength increases. A resonating back-and-forth motion of individual self-propelled particles across interfaces is identified as a mechanism for the pinning. We present a numerical phase diagram for the motility-induced pinning transition, and an approximate analytic theory for the growth and shrink dynamics of pinned interfaces. Our results show that pinned interfaces grow to a macroscopic size preventing the polar order in the regime where the particle diffusion rate is sufficiently smaller than the self-propulsion rate. The growth behavior in the opposite regime and its implications on the polar order remain unresolved and require further investigation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Nonequilibrium phase transitions in a Brownian $p$-state clock model

We introduce a Brownian $p$-state clock model in two dimensions and investigate the nature of phase transitions numerically. As a nonequilibrium extension of the equilibrium lattice model, the Brownian $p$-state clock model allows spins to diffuse randomly in the two-dimensional space of area $L^2$ under periodic boundary conditions. We find three distinct phases for $p>4$: a disordered paramagnetic phase, a quasi-long-range-ordered critical phase, and an ordered ferromagnetic phase. In the intermediate critical phase, the magnetization order parameter follows a power law scaling $m \sim L^{-\tildeβ}$, where the finite-size scaling exponent $\tildeβ$ varies continuously. These critical behaviors are reminiscent of the double Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless~(BKT) transition picture of the equilibrium system. At the transition to the disordered phase, the exponent takes the universal value $\tildeβ= 1/8$ which coincides with that of the equilibrium system. This result indicates that the BKT transition driven by the unbinding of topological excitations is robust against the particle diffusion. On the contrary, the exponent at the symmetry-breaking transition to the ordered phase deviates from the universal value $\tildeβ = 2/p^2$ of the equilibrium system. The deviation is attributed to a nonequilibrium effect from the particle diffusion.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Flocking of two unfriendly species: The two-species Vicsek model

We consider the two-species Vicsek model (TSVM) consisting of two kinds of self-propelled particles, A and B, that tend to align with particles from the same species and to antialign with the other. The model shows a flocking transition that is reminiscent of the original Vicsek model: it has a liquid-gas phase transition and displays micro-phase-separation in the coexistence region where multiple dense liquid bands propagate in a gaseous background. The interesting features of the TSVM are the existence of two kinds of bands, one composed of mainly A particles and one mainly of B particles, the appearance of two dynamical states in the coexistence region: the PF (parallel flocking) state in which all bands of the two species propagate in the same direction, and the APF (antiparallel flocking) state in which the bands of species A and species B move in opposite directions. When PF and APF states exist in the low-density part of the coexistence region they perform stochastic transitions from one to the other. The system size dependence of the transition frequency and dwell times show a pronounced crossover that is determined by the ratio of the band width and the longitudinal system size. Our work paves the way for studying multispecies flocking models with heterogeneous alignment interactions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Suppression of discontinuous phase transitions by particle diffusion

We investigate the phase transitions of the $q$-state Brownian Potts model in two dimensions (2d) comprising Potts spins that diffuse like Brownian particles and interact ferromagnetically with other spins within a fixed distance. With extensive Monte Carlo simulations we find a continuous phase transition from a paramagnetic to a ferromagnetic phase even for $q>4$. This is in sharp contrast to the existence of a discontinuous phase transition in the equilibrium $q$-state Potts model in 2d with $q>4$. We present detailed numerical evidence for a continuous phase transition and argue that diffusion generated dynamical positional disorder suppresses phase coexistence leading to a continuous transition.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗