International E-publication: Publish Projects, Dissertation, Theses, Books, Souvenir, Conference Proceeding with ISBN. 

Self-Propelled Dynamics: Insights from Brownian motion Studies

    , , ,

Author Affiliations

  • 1P.G. Department of Physics, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Arrah, Bihar 802301, India
  • 2P.G. Department of Physics, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Arrah, Bihar 802301, India
  • 3P.G. Department of Physics, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Arrah, Bihar 802301, India
  • 4P.G. Department of Physics, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Arrah, Bihar 802301, India

Res. J. Physical Sci., Volume 14, Issue (1), Pages 10-13, February,4 (2026)

Abstract

Self-driven (or active) particles are capable of converting stored energy into coordinated motion. Systems of active particles are far-from-equilibrium and are studied using concepts such as the Langevin formalism, the Fokker-Planck equation, the Master equation, the Boltzmann equation. In this review, we discuss models of active matter covering systems from individual particles to collections of interacting and non-interacting ones, within the framework of active Brownian motion. First, we discuss general idea of Brownian dynamics for passive particles. Equations governing passive particle dynamics follow detailed balance and hold fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT). In active systems detailed balance is broken and FDT is violated. We write the corresponding Langevin equation for active particles for a minimal model and analyse the equation to study the critical dynamical behaviour such as collective organized motion, motility-induced phase separation (MIPS). We discuss how to extend these ideas to other complex systems and explore some practical applications.

References

  1. Marchetti, M. C., Joanny, J. F., Ramaswamy, S., Liverpool, T. B., Prost, J., Rao, M., & Simha, R. A. (2013)., Hydrodynamics of soft active matter., Reviews of Modern Physics, 85(3), 1143–1189. https://doi.org/10.1103/Rev ModPhys.85.1143.
  2. Ramaswamy, S. (2017)., Active matter., Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, 2017(5), 054002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-5468/aa6bc5.
  3. McQuarrie, D. A. (2000)., Statistical mechanics., University Science Books, Mill Valley, CA. ISBN: 978-1-891389-15-3
  4. Huang, K. (1987)., Statistical mechanics (2nd ed.)., Wiley, New York. ISBN: 978-0-471-81518-1.
  5. Zwanzig, R. (2001)., Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics., Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. ISBN: 978-0-19-514018-7.
  6. Vicsek, T., Czirók, A., Ben-Jacob, E., Cohen, I., & Shochet, O. (1995)., Novel type of phase transition in a system of self-driven particles., Physical Review Letters, 75(6), 1226–1229. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.75. 1226.
  7. Vicsek, T., & Zafeiris, A. (2012)., Collective motion., Physics Reports, 517(3–4), 71–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.physrep.2012.03.004.
  8. Einstein, A. (1905)., On the motion of small particles suspended in liquids at rest required by the molecular-kinetic theory of heat., Annalen der Physik, 322(8), 549–560. https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.19053220806.
  9. Chandrasekhar, S. (1943)., Stochastic problems in physics and astronomy., Reviews of Modern Physics, 15(1), 1–89. https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.15.1.
  10. Schweitzer, F., Ebeling, W., & Tilch, B. (1998)., Complex motion of Brownian particles with energy depots., Physical Review Letters, 80(23), 5044–5047. https://doi.org/10.1103/ PhysRevLett.80.5044.
  11. Fily, Y., & Marchetti, M. C. (2012)., Athermal phase separation of self-propelled particles with no alignment., Physical Review Letters, 108, 235702. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.235702.
  12. Fily, Y., Henkes, S., & Marchetti, M. C. (2014)., Freezing and phase separation of self-propelled disks., Soft Matter, 10(13), 2132–2140. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3SM52469H.
  13. Cates, M. E., & Tailleur, J. (2015)., Motility-induced phase separation., Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, 6, 219–244. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-031214-014710.
  14. Palagi, S., & Fischer, P. (2018)., Bioinspired microrobots., Nature Reviews Materials, 3, 113–124. https://doi.org/10. 1038/s41578-018-0016-9.
  15. Helbing, D. (2001)., Traffic and related self-driven many-particle systems., Reviews of Modern Physics, 73(4), 1067–1141. https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.73.1067.