
pmid: 38072587
We study the stability of the ordered phase of flocking models with a scalar order parameter. Using both the active Ising model and a hydrodynamic description, we show that droplets of particles moving in the direction opposite to that of the ordered phase nucleate and grow. We characterize analytically this self-similar growth and demonstrate that droplets spread ballistically in all directions. Our results imply that, in the thermodynamic limit, discrete-symmetry flocks -- and, by extension, continuous-symmetry flocks with rotational anisotropy -- are metastable in all dimensions.
Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech), Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), FOS: Physical sciences, Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter, Condensed Matter - Statistical Mechanics, [PHYS] Physics [physics]
Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech), Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), FOS: Physical sciences, Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter, Condensed Matter - Statistical Mechanics, [PHYS] Physics [physics]
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