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Updated: Sep 22, 2026

Investigating the Three-dimensional Flow Separation Induced by a Model Vocal Fold Polyp
Published on: February 3, 2014
Curvature-driven wall accumulation in chiral active particles
Alessandro Petrini1, Raphaël Maire2, Umberto Marini Bettolo Marconi3
1Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro 2, Rome, Italy. lorenzo.caprini@uniroma1.it.
Abstract:
We study a dilute system of non-motile chiral active particles confined in geometries ranging from straight channels to circular enclosures. Activity is introduced through chiral particle-wall interactions, modeled as tangential wall forces that generate the edge currents characteristic of chiral active matter. Remarkably, although the particles lack self-propulsion, these boundary currents induce density inhomogeneities in the presence of small but finite inertia. We show that boundary curvature drives a wall accumulation phenomenon: particles remain uniformly distributed in straight channels but accumulate near the boundaries of circular confinements. Numerical simulations and a hydrodynamic theory for the density and momentum fields quantitatively capture this curvature-induced wall-accumulation. These results identify boundary curvature as a fundamental control parameter for chiral edge transport and confinement-induced organization, with potential experimental relevance to spinning colloids and granular spinners.
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