A Dynamic Renormalization Group Study of Active Nematics
Abstract
We carry out a systematic construction of the coarse-grained dynamical equation of motion for the orientational order parameter for a two-dimensional active nematic, that is a nonequilibrium steady state with uniaxial, apolar orientational order. Using the dynamical renormalization group, we show that the leading nonlinearities in this equation are marginally \textit{irrelevant}. We discover a special limit of parameters in which the equation of motion for the angle field of bears a close relation to the 2d stochastic Burgers equation. We find nevertheless that, unlike for the Burgers problem, the nonlinearity is marginally irrelevant even in this special limit, as a result of of a hidden fluctuation-dissipation relation. 2d active nematics therefore have quasi-long-range order, just like their equilibrium counterparts
Cite
@article{arxiv.0912.2283,
title = {A Dynamic Renormalization Group Study of Active Nematics},
author = {Shradha Mishra and R. Aditi Simha and Sriram Ramaswamy},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0912.2283},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
31 pages 6 figures