Diffusion, subdiffusion and localisation of active colloids in random post lattices

Abstract

Combining experiments and theory, we address the dynamics of self-propelled particles in crowded environments. We first demonstrate that motile colloids cruising at constant speed through random lattices undergo a smooth transition from diffusive, to subdiffusive, to localized dynamics upon increasing the obstacle density. We then elucidate the nature of these transitions by performing extensive simulations constructed from a detailed analysis of the colloid-obstacle interactions. We evidence that repulsion at a distance and hard-core interactions both contribute to slowing down the long-time diffusion of the colloids. In contrast, the localization transition stems solely from excluded-volume interactions and occurs at the void-percolation threshold. Within this critical scenario, equivalent to that of the random Lorentz gas, genuine asymptotic subdiffusion is found only at the critical density where the motile particles explore a fractal maze.

9 pages, 8 figures

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• Chiral Active Particles are Sensitive Reporter to Environmental Geometry
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• Microbes in porous environments: From active interactions to emergent feedback
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• Active Brownian Particles in Random and Porous Environments
• A microscopic field theoretical approach for binary mixtures of active and passive particles
• Mode-Coupling Theory for Tagged-Particle Motion of Active Brownian Particles
• Deflection of phototactic microswimmers through obstacle arrays
• Random motion of a circle microswimmer in a random environment
• Clogging, Dynamics and Reentrant Fluid for Active Matter on Periodic Substrates
• Negative Differential Mobility in Interacting Particle Systems
• Anomalous mobility of a driven active particle in a steady laminar flow
• Active Matter Shepherding and Clustering in Inhomogeneous Environments
• The influence of obstacles on collective motion of self-propelled objects
• Directional Locking and the Influence of Obstacle Density on Skyrmion Dynamics in Triangular and Honeycomb Arrays
• Pushing run-and-tumble particles through a rugged channel
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• Two-dimensional complex (dusty) plasma with active Janus particles
• High-dimensional percolation criticality and hints of mean-field-like caging of the random Lorentz gas
• Behavioral transition of a fish school in a crowded environment
• Repulsive torques alone trigger crystallization of constant speed active particles
• Active particles in reactive disordered media: how does adsorption affects diffusion?
• Susceptibility of Orientationally-Ordered Active Matter to Chirality Disorder
• Morphological Effects on Bacterial Brownian Motion: Validation of a Chiral Two-Body Model