Motility-Induced Phase Separation

Self-propelled particles — MIPS (Cates & Tailleur 2015)

Cluster fraction: —
Purely repulsive active particles spontaneously phase separate above a critical Péclet number Pe = v₀/Dᵣσ. Fast swimmers slow down in dense regions (traffic jam), trapping more particles and amplifying the cluster. The MIPS binodal separates gas and liquid phases. High φ+Pe → macrophase separation; low values → homogeneous gas.