Collective ballistic motion explains fast aggregation in adhesive active matter
Soft Condensed Matter
2025-09-11 v2 Biological Physics
Computational Physics
Abstract
Inspired by motile cells in tissue formation, we find that active systems of self-aligning adhesive particles undergo ballistic aggregation through a flocking transition. This kinetic regime emerges when the cluster persistence length grows faster with cluster mass than the intercluster distance does. We also identify and explain distinct non-collective kinetic regimes, including biologically relevant long-lived transients. Our analytical and numerical results offer a unified framework explaining the broad range of experimentally observed aggregation exponents in cellular systems and reveal physical principles potentially critical for timely tissue organization.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2508.11793,
title = {Collective ballistic motion explains fast aggregation in adhesive active matter},
author = {Emanuel F. Teixeira and Pablo de Castro and Carine P. Beatrici and Heitor C. M. Fernandes and Leonardo G. Brunnet},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.11793},
year = {2025}
}