https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2016-60022-8
Regular Article
Collective behavior of active Brownian particles: From microscopic clustering to macroscopic phase separation
Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Staudingerweg 7-9, 55128 Mainz, Germany
a e-mail: thomas.speck@uni-mainz.de
Received: 9 February 2016
Revised: 3 April 2016
Published online: 10 November 2016
A pedagogical introduction to the analytical treatment of the collective behavior of active (self-propelled) Brownian particles with short-ranged interactions is presented. The treatment is based on established concepts from the theories of simple liquids and pattern formation. It is shown how microscopic clustering due to self-blocking of directed particle motion leads to macroscopic phase separation described by effective equilibrium concepts holding on length scales larger than the persistence length of the direction motion.
© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag, 2016
