2010/02/19 by Aparna Baskaran, M. Cristina Marchetti · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1742-5468/2010/04/p04019
arxiv created 2010/02/19 · arxiv updated 2015/05/18
Using tools of nonequilibirum mechanics, we study a model of self-propelled hard rods on a substrate in two dimensions to quantify the interplay of self-propulsion and excluded-volume effects. We derive of a Smoluchowski equation for the configurational probability density of self-propelled rods that contains several modifications as compared to the familiar Smoluchowski equation for thermal rods. As a side-product of our work, we also present a purely dynamical derivation of the Onsager form of the mean field excluded volume interaction among thermal hard rods.