Speed-dispersion-induced alignment: A one-dimensional model inspired by swimming droplets experiments

Richard will discuss the paper:

Speed-dispersion-induced alignment: A one-dimensional model inspired by swimming droplets experiments

by Illien et al (2020) Physical Review E 101, 040602(R)

Details of talk:

This paper outlines some experiments of out-of-equilibrium water droplets that are confined to a one-dimensional channel, have an excluded volume interaction and collide inelastically. A model of the observed dynamics demonstrates that an interplay between activity and the inelastic collisions leads to macroscopic alignment when (i) the energy lost in collisions is high and (ii) the rate at which particles return to their usual speed is low. It also suggests the transient appearance of condensates at the earlier stages of the alignment process. This system is of interest as it combines aspects of persistent exclusion processes (aka run-and-tumble) and flocking models.