Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
Nonequilibrium phase transition in the sedimentation of reproducing particles
C Barrett-Freeman1, M R Evans, D Marenduzzo
1SUPA and School of Physics, The University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
We study numerically and analytically the dynamics of a sedimenting suspension of active, reproducing particles, such as growing bacteria in a gravitational field. In steady state we find a nonequilibrium phase transition between a "sedimentation" regime, analogous to the sedimentation equilibrium of passive colloids, and a "uniform" regime, in which the particle density is constant in all but the top and bottom of the sample. We discuss the importance of fluctuations in particle density in locating the phase-transition point, and report the kinetics of sedimentation at early times.
Related Concept Videos
Dynamic Equilibrium
Speciation Rates
Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
The Colloidal State
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Phase Transitions

