How irreversible are steady-state trajectories of a trapped active particle?

Abstract

The defining feature of active particles is that they constantly propel themselves by locally converting chemical energy into directed motion. This active self-propulsion prevents them from equilibrating with their thermal environment (e.g., an aqueous solution), thus keeping them permanently out of equilibrium. Nevertheless, the spatial dynamics of active particles might share certain equilibrium features, in particular in the steady state. We here focus on the time-reversal symmetry of individual spatial trajectories as a distinct equilibrium characteristic. We investigate to what extent the steady-state trajectories of a trapped active particle obey or break this time-reversal symmetry. Within the framework of active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck particles we find that the steady-state trajectories in a harmonic potential fulfill path-wise time-reversal symmetry exactly, while this symmetry is typically broken in anharmonic potentials.

31 pages, 10 figures

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Cited by in corpus (16)

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• Time-delayed Duffing oscillator in an active bath
• Estimate of entropy generation rate can spatiotemporally resolve the active nature of cell flickering
• The Many Faces of Fluctuation-Dissipation Relations Out of Equilibrium
• Inhomogeneous entropy production in active crystals with point imperfections
• Premelting controlled active matter in ice
• AMEP: The Active Matter Evaluation Package for Python
• Fluctuation Theorems for Heat exchanges between passive and active baths
• Biolocomotion and premelting in ice
• Thermodynamic nature of irreversibility in active matter
• Most probable paths for active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck particles
• Correlated escape of active particles across a potential barrier
• Entropy production in active Rouse polymers