Phase Coexistence Implications of Violating Newton's Third Law

Abstract

Newton's third law, actio = reactio, is a foundational statement of classical mechanics. However, in natural and living systems, this law appears to be routinely violated for constituents interacting in a nonequilibrium environment. Here, we use computer simulations to explore the macroscopic phase behavior implications of breaking microscopic interaction reciprocity for a simple model system. We consider a binary mixture of attractive particles and introduce a parameter which is a continuous measure of the degree to which interaction reciprocity is broken. In the reciprocal limit, the species are indistinguishable and the system phase separates into domains with distinct densities and identical compositions. Increasing nonreciprocity is found to drive the system to explore a rich assortment of phases, including phases with strong composition asymmetries and three-phase coexistence. Many of the states induced by these forces, including traveling crystals and liquids, have no equilibrium analogue. By mapping the complete phase diagram for this model system and characterizing these unique phases, our findings offer a concrete path forward towards understanding how nonreciprocity shapes the structures found in living systems and how this might be leveraged in the design of synthetic materials.

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Mechanical Theory of Nonequilibrium Coexistence and Motility-Induced Phase Separation
• Dynamical pattern formation without self-attraction in quorum-sensing active matter: the interplay between nonreciprocity and motility
• Non-reciprocal alignment induces asymmetric clustering in active mixtures
• Theory of Capillary Tension and Interfacial Dynamics of Motility-Induced Phases
• Phase Coexistence in Nonreciprocal Quorum-Sensing Active Matter
• Dynamical structures in phase-separating non-reciprocal polar active mixtures
• Non-equilibrium coexistence between a fluid and a hotter or colder crystal of granular hard disks
• Impact of non-reciprocal interactions on colloidal self-assembly with tunable anisotropy
• Theory of Nonequilibrium Multicomponent Coexistence
• Theory of Nonequilibrium Coexistence with Coupled Conserved and Nonconserved Order Parameters