Paradise

Theoretical Physics Colloquium: Classical Analogues of Bose-Einstein Condensation in Active Matter

03 Feb 2023
Seminars and colloquia
Time
Venue
Lindemann Lecture Theatre
Martin Wood Complex, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU
Speaker(s)

Ramin Golestanian (Max Planck & Oxford)

Seminar series
Theoretical physics colloquia
For more information contact

Building on the recent surge in developing generalized thermodynamic descriptions for scalar active matter, I propose a generic theoretical formulation that incorporates the notion of a diffusivity edge, which is a density threshold beyond which the effective density-dependent diffusivity of the system vanishes. The model can be solved exactly for the stationary-state behaviour of the system despite being highly singular. The exact solution shows a remarkable emergent feature in the system; a dynamical phase transition that is formally equivalent to Bose-Einstein condensation, despite the system being intrinsically classical. The relevant generalized thermodynamic properties of the system are characterized, and it is demonstrated how signatures of such behaviour can be observed in experiments.