Collective states of active matter with stochastic reversals: Emergent chiral states and spontaneous current switching

Abstract

We study the collective dynamical behavior of active particles with topological interactions and directional reversals. Surprising phenomena are shown to emerge as the interaction relaxation time is varied relative to the reversal rate, such as the spontaneous formation of collective chiral states and collective flow reversals in the presence of confinement. The results have a direct relevance to modeling and understanding collective reversals in active matter.