Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 16, 2026

Visualization of Flow Field Around a Vibrating Pipeline Within an Equilibrium Scour Hole
Published on: August 26, 2019
Noise-induced vortex reversal of self-propelled particles
Hanshuang Chen1, Zhonghuai Hou
1Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscales & Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
We report an interesting phenomenon of noise-induced vortex reversal in a two-dimensional system of self-propelled particles (SPPs) with soft-core interactions. With the aid of forward flux sampling, we analyze the configurations along the reversal pathway and thus identify the mechanism of vortex reversal. We find that the reversal exhibits a hierarchical process: those particles at the periphery first change their motion directions, and then more inner layers of particles reverse later on. Furthermore, we calculate the dependence of the average reversal rate on noise intensity D and the number N of SPPs. We find that the rate decreases exponentially with the reciprocal of D. Interestingly, the rate varies nonmonotonically with N and a local minimal rate exists for an intermediate value of N.
Related Concept Videos
Motion Of A Charged Particle In A Magnetic Field
Irrotational Flow
Shock Waves
When the source's speed approaches the speed of sound, constructive interference between successive wavefronts emitted by the source occurs immediately behind it. Initially, scientists believed that this constructive interference would result in such high pressures...
Principle of Linear Impulse and Momentum for a Single Particle
Delving into...
Sound Waves: Interference
Conservation of Linear Momentum for a System of Particles
The impulsive force at play during this interaction is of extremely short duration, rendering its impulse negligible. When...

