arXiv subjects

Pasquale Digregorio

Publications and source records attributed to Pasquale Digregorio.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Topological delocalisation of confined 3D active nematics

Defect lines in 3D active nematic systems are intriguing topological singularities whose out-of-equilibrium dynamics remain elusive in confined settings. Here, we numerically study 3D active nematics confined within closed cylinders to elucidate the roles of geometry and activity. We reveal a competition between passive elasticity, which causes localisation of defects near edges, and activity, which endows defects with motility and gives rise to disorderly, delocalised dynamics. Varying boundary curvature, activity strength, and cylinder radius reveals a state space of static and dynamic localisation states, including handle-like configurations and chaotic motion bounded within the cylinder endcap. As activity is tuned to induce delocalisation, we identify phase transition signatures, including pronounced fluctuations and an emergent power law scaling of defect number and average defect length. We find that these scaling properties are strongly altered by confinement: unlike in bulk systems where activity governs length distributions, confinement tunes an activity-independent characteristic length, with an exponent reminiscent of self-avoiding confined polymers. These results establish confinement of inhomogeneous curvature as a versatile mechanism for controlling active topological dynamics.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2026

Role of mass fluctuations in the diffusion of clusters of Brownian particles with activity

Motivated by the anomalous diffusion observed in clusters of active Brownian particles (ABPs), where the center-of-mass diffusion coefficient scales as $D\sim N^{-1/2}$ with respect to the number $N$ of particles in the cluster, we derive a minimal theoretical framework starting from the single-particle Langevin equations. The model consists of two coupled stochastic equations: one for the cluster center-of-mass trajectory and one for the mass evolution $N(t)$, explicitly accounting for stochastic displacements induced by particle attachment and detachment. We specialize and validate the framework against ABP simulations of isolated clusters in stationary conditions, where $N(t)$ follows a Gaussian process with mean $N_0$, variance $\propto N_0^\beta$, and persistence time $\propto N_0^\kappa$. Analytical solution of the coupled equations yields the long-time diffusion coefficient as the sum of two contributions: a conventional term $\propto N_0^{-1}$) due to thermal noise plus summation of active forces, and a fluctuation-driven term $\propto N_0^{-\delta}$ with $\delta=2-2/d-\beta+\kappa$, where $d$ is the spatial dimension. We demonstrate that anomalous scaling emerges whenever the second term becomes dominant. The model predicts $D\sim N^{-\alpha}$ with $\alpha=0.63\pm0.06$, in good quantitative agreement with large-scale ABP simulations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Morphology, Polarization Patterns, Compression, and Entropy Production in Phase-Separating Active Dumbbell Systems

Polar patterns and topological defects are ubiquitous in active matter. In this paper, we study a paradigmatic polar active dumbbell system through numerical simulations, to clarify how polar patterns and defects emerge and shape evolution. We focus on the interplay between these patterns and morphology, domain growth, irreversibility, and compressibility, tuned by dumbbell rigidity and interaction strength. Our results show that, when separated through MIPS, dumbbells with softer interactions can slide one relative to each other and compress more easily, producing blurred hexatic patterns, polarization patterns extended across entire hexatically varied domains, and stronger compression effects. Analysis of isolated domains reveals the consistent presence of inward-pointing topological defects that drive cluster compression and generate non-trivial density profiles, whose magnitude and extension are ruled by the rigidity of the pairwise potential. Investigation of entropy production reveals instead that clusters hosting an aster (spiral) defect are characterized by a flat (increasing) entropy profile mirroring the underlying polarization structure, thus suggesting an alternative avenue to distinguish topological defects on thermodynamical grounds. Overall, our study highlights how interaction strength and defect-compression interplay affect cluster evolution in particle-based active models, and also provides connections with recent studies of continuum polar active field models.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2025

Arrested phase separation and chiral symmetry breaking in active dumbbells under shear

Through molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the phase separation and aggregation dynamics of active dumbbell particles in two-dimensions subjected to shear. We find that the growth of the phase-separated region is arrested when shear is applied, with the average clusters size plateauing towards a value $R_s$ that remains constant over time. While activity enhances the resilience of clusters against shear-induced breakup, $R_s$ decreases with growing shear rate $\dot\gamma$, with an intermediate regime where $R_s\propto \dot\gamma^{-1}$. We find that clusters in the stationary state are progressively less polarized and increasingly elongated with increasing shear. At the same time, we find a breaking in chiral symmetry of both rotation direction and internal organization of clusters: typically, dumbbells point towards the cluster center with a small non-zero angle, such that the active torque opposes the shear torque, with cluster's angular velocity well captured by a simplified analytical model. We argue this conformation makes clusters more stable against shear.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2025

Transverse Self-Propulsion Enhances the Aggregation of Active Dumbbells

We investigate a two-dimensional system of active Brownian dumbbells using molecular dynamics simulations. In this model, each dumbbell is driven by an active force oriented perpendicular to the axis connecting its two constituent beads. We characterize the resulting phase behavior and find that, across all values of activity, the system undergoes phase separation between dilute and dense phases. The dense phase exhibits hexatic order, and for large enough activity, we observe a marked increase in local polarization, with dumbbells predominantly oriented towards the interior of the clusters. Compared to the case of axially self-propelled dumbbells, we find that the binodal region is enlarged towards lower densities at all activities. This shift arises because dumbbells with transverse propulsion can more easily form stable cluster cores, serving as nucleation seeds, and show a highly suppressed escaping rate from the cluster boundary. Finally, we observe that clusters exhibit spontaneous rotation, with the modulus of the angular velocity scaling as $\omega\sim r_g^{-2}$, where $r_g$ is the cluster's radius of gyration. This contrasts with axially propelled dumbbells, where the scaling follows $\omega\sim r_g^{-1}$. We develop a simplified analytical model to rationalize this scaling behavior.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2025

Phase separation in a chiral active fluid of inertial self-spinning disks

We show that systematic particle rotations in a fluid composed of disk-shaped spinners can spontaneously lead to phase separation. The phenomenon arises out of a homogeneous and hydrostatic stationary state, due to a pressure feedback mechanism that increases local density fluctuations. We show how this mechanism induces phase separation, coined as Rotation Induced Phase Separation (RIPS), when the active rotation is not properly counterbalanced by translational friction. A low density phase can coexist with a dense chiral liquid due to the imbalance between pressure and stress transmitted through chiral flows when a significant momentum transfer between rotational and translational motion can be sustained. As a consequence, RIPS is expected to appear generically in chiral fluids.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2023

Coexistence of defect morphologies in three dimensional active nematics

We establish how active stress globally affects the morphology of disclination lines of a three dimensional active nematic liquid crystal under chaotic flow. Thanks to a defect detection algorithm based on the local nematic orientation, we show that activity selects a crossover length scale in between the size of small defect loops and the one of long and tangled defect lines of fractal dimension $2$. This length scale crossover is consistent with the scaling of the average separation between defects as a function of activity. Moreover, on the basis of numerical simulation in a 3D periodic geometry, we show the presence of a network of regular defect loops, contractible onto the $3$-torus, always coexisting with wrapping defect lines. While the length of regular defects scales linearly with the emerging active length scale, it verifies an inverse quadratic dependence for wrapping defects. The shorter the active length scale, the more the defect lines wrap around the periodic boundaries, resulting in extremely long and buckled structures.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2022

Dynamics of Motility-Induced clusters: coarsening beyond Ostwald ripening

We study the dynamics of clusters of Active Brownian Disks generated by Motility-Induced Phase Separation, by applying an algorithm that we devised to track cluster trajectories. We identify an aggregation mechanism that goes beyond Ostwald ripening but also yields $z=3$. Active clusters of mass $M$ self-propel with enhanced diffusivity $D\sim$ Pe$^2/\sqrt{M}$. Their fast motion drives aggregation into large fractal structures, which are patchworks of diverse hexatic orders, and coexist with regular, orientationally uniform, smaller ones. To bring out the impact of activity, we perform a comparative study of a passive system that evidences major differences with the active case.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Hydrodynamic effects on the liquid-hexatic transition of active colloids

We study numerically the role of hydrodynamics in the liquid-hexatic transition of active colloids at intermediate activity, where motility induced phase separation (MIPS) does not occur. We show that in the case of active Brownian particles (ABP), the critical density of the transition decreases upon increasing the particle's mass, enhancing ordering, while self-propulsion has the opposite effect in the activity regime considered. Active hydrodynamic particles (AHP), instead, undergo the liquid-hexatic transition at higher values of packing fraction $ϕ$ than the corresponding ABP, suggesting that hydrodynamics have the net effect of disordering the system. At increasing densities, close to the hexatic-liquid transition, we found in the case of AHP the appearance of self-sustained organized motion with clusters of particles moving coherently.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

Motility-Induced Microphase and Macrophase Separation in a Two-Dimensional Active Brownian Particle System

As a result of nonequilibrium forces, purely repulsive self-propelled particles undergo macrophase separation between a dense and a dilute phase. We present a thorough study of the ordering kinetics of such motility-induced phase separation (MIPS) in active Brownian particles in two dimensions, and we show that it is generically accompanied by microphase separation. The growth of the dense phase follows a law akin to the one of liquid-gas phase separation. However, it is made of a mosaic of hexatic microdomains whose size does not coarsen indefinitely, leaving behind a network of extended topological defects from which microscopic dilute bubbles arise. The characteristic length of these finite-size structures increases with activity, independently of the choice of initial conditions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

Unified analysis of Topological Defects in 2D systems of Active and Passive disks

We provide a comprehensive quantitative analysis of localized and extended topological defects in the steady state of 2D passive and active repulsive Brownian disk systems. We show that, both in and out-of-equilibrium, the passage from the solid to the hexatic is driven by the unbinding of dislocations, in quantitative agreement with the KTHNY singularity. Instead, although disclinations dissociate as soon as the liquid phase appears, extended clusters of defects largely dominate below the solid-hexatic critical line. The latter percolate in the liquid phase very close to the hexatic-liquid transition, both for continuous and discontinuous transitions, in the homogeneous liquid regime. At critical percolation the clusters of defects are fractal with statistical and geometric properties that, within our numerical accuracy, are independent of the activity and compatible with the universality class of uncorrelated critical percolation. We also characterize the spatial organization of different kinds of point-like defects and we show that the disclinations are not free, but rather always very near more complex defect structures. At high activity, the bulk of the dense phase generated by Motility-Induced Phase Separation is characterized by a density of point-like defects, and statistics and morphology of defect clusters, set by the amount of activity and not the packing fraction. Hexatic domains within the dense phase are separated by grain-boundaries along which a finite network of topological defects resides, interrupted by gas bubbles in cavitation. The fractal dimension of this network diminishes for increasing activity. This structure is dynamic in the sense that the defect network allows for an unzipping mechanism that leaves free space for gas bubbles to appear, close, and even be released into the dilute phase.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

Clustering of topological defects in two-dimensional melting of active and passive disks

We provide a quantitative analysis of all kinds of topological defects present in 2D passive and active repulsive disk systems. We show that the passage from the solid to the hexatic is driven by the unbinding of dislocations. Instead, although we see dissociation of disclinations as soon as the liquid phase appears, extended clusters of defects largely dominate below the solid-hexatic critical line. The latter percolate at the hexatic-liquid transition in continuous cases or within the coexistence region in discontinuous ones, and their form gets more ramified for increasing activity.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2019

Morphology and flow patterns in highly asymmetric active emulsions

We investigate numerically, by a hybrid lattice Boltzmann method, the morphology and the dynamics of an emulsion made of a polar active gel, contractile or extensile, and an isotropic passive fluid. We focus on the case of a highly off-symmetric ratio between the active and passive components. In absence of any activity we observe an hexatic-ordered droplets phase, with some defects in the layout. We study how the morphology of the system is affected by activity both in the contractile and extensile case. In the extensile case a small amount of activity favors the elimination of defects in the array of droplets, while at higher activities, first aster-like rotating droplets appear, and then a disordered pattern occurs. In the contractile case, at sufficiently high values of activity, elongated structures are formed. Energy and enstrophy behavior mark the transitions between the different regimes.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2018

Active dumbbells: dynamics and morphology in the coexisting region

With the help of molecular dynamics simulations we study an ensemble of active dumbbells in purely repulsive interaction. We derive the phase diagram in the density-activity plane and we characterise the various phases with liquid, hexatic and solid character. The analysis of the structural and dynamical properties, such as enstrophy, mean square displacement, polarisation, and correlation functions, shows the continuous character of liquid and hexatic phases in the coexisting region when the activity is increased starting from the passive limit.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2018

Full phase diagram of active Brownian disks: from melting to motility-induced phase separation

We establish the complete phase diagram of self-propelled hard disks in two spatial dimensions from the analysis of the equation of state and the statistics of local order parameters. The equilibrium melting scenario is maintained at small activities, with coexistence between active liquid and hexatic order, followed by a proper hexatic phase and a further transition to an active solid. As activity increases, the emergence of hexatic and solid order is shifted towards higher densities. Above a critical activity and for a certain range of packing fractions, the system undergoes MIPS and demixes into low and high density phases; the latter can be either disordered (liquid) or ordered (hexatic or solid) depending on activity.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Phase co-existence in bidimensional passive and active dumbbell systems

We demonstrate that there is macroscopic co-existence between regions with hexatic order and regions in the liquid/gas phase over a finite interval of packing fractions in active dumbbell systems with repulsive power-law interactions in two dimensions. In the passive limit this interval remains finite, similarly to what has been found in bidimensional systems of hard and soft disks. We did not find discontinuous behaviour upon increasing activity from the passive limit.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗