Emergent states in systems of chiral self-propelled rods^(a)

¹ Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Universitat de Barcelona - C. Martí Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
² UBICS University of Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems - C. Martí i Franquès 1, E08028 Barcelona, Spain
³ Institut für Physik, Universität Greifswald - Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 6, 17489 Greifswald, Germany

^(b) E-mail: levis@ub.edu (corresponding author)

Received: 9 February 2023
Accepted: 20 June 2023

Abstract

We study inherently chiral self-propelled particles, self-rotating at a fixed frequency, in two dimensions, subjected to nematic alignment interactions and rotational noise. By means of both homogeneous and spatially resolved mean field kinetic theory, we identify various different flocking states. We confirm the presence of the predicted phases using agent-based simulations, in particular, an homogeneous nematic phase at low frequencies, followed by a microflock pattern phase at larger frequencies, characterized by finite-size nematic clusters. We emphasize that special care has to be taken within the simulations in order to avoid artefacts, and present a non-standard simulation technique in order to avoid them.