Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
Invasion-wave-induced first-order phase transition in systems of active particles
1Department of Physics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58108-6050, USA.
Abstract:
An instability near the transition to collective motion of self-propelled particles is studied numerically by Enskog-like kinetic theory. While hydrodynamics breaks down, the kinetic approach leads to steep solitonlike waves. These supersonic waves show hysteresis and lead to an abrupt jump of the global order parameter if the noise level is changed. Thus they provide a mean-field mechanism to change the second-order character of the phase transition to first order. The shape of the wave is shown to follow a scaling law and to quantitatively agree with agent-based simulations.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Phase Transitions
Phase Transitions
Propagation of Waves
Consider a scenario where a wave propagates from a string of low linear mass density to a string of high linear mass density. In such a case, the reflected wave is out of phase with respect to the incident wave, however the...
Interference and Diffraction
First Law: Particles in One-dimensional Equilibrium
Electrochemical Systems

