Active Brownian Particles: Motility-Induced Phase Separation

Self-propelled particles with rotational diffusion undergo a remarkable non-equilibrium phase transition purely through self-trapping: fast particles collide and slow each other down, creating dense clusters without any attractive forces. This motility-induced phase separation (MIPS) has no equilibrium analogue.

Speed v₀: 1.5
Rot. diff Dᵣ: 0.030
N particles: 250
Largest cluster: —
Color = cluster membership. Dense clusters emerge spontaneously from motility alone.