Active particles driven by competing spatially dependent self-propulsion and external force

Abstract

We investigate how the competing presence of a nonuniform motility landscape and an external confining field affects the properties of active particles. We employ the active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck particle (AOUP) model with a periodic swim velocity profile to derive analytical approximations for the steady-state probability distribution of position and velocity, encompassing both the Unified Colored Noise Approximation and the theory of potential-free active particles with spatially dependent swim velocity recently developed. We test the theory by confining an active particle in a harmonic trap, which gives rise to interesting properties, such as a transition from a unimodal to a bimodal (and, eventually multimodal) spatial density, induced by decreasing the spatial period of the self propulsion. Correspondingly, the velocity distribution shows pronounced deviations from the Gaussian shape, even displaying a bimodal profile in the high-motility regions. Our results can be confirmed by real-space experiments on active colloidal Janus particles in external fields.

Active Colloidal Molecules in Activity Gradients

“…A way to control the behaviour of active particles is by subjecting them to spatial external fields. For example a space-dependent friction [23] or a space-dependent swim force [24][25][26][27][28][29]. Here we focus on the latter.…”