Flocking and mesoscale turbulence in three-dimensional active fluids
Fluid Dynamics
2026-01-27 v1 Soft Condensed Matter
Abstract
We numerically study the three-dimensional turbulence in a minimal model of an active fluid--the Toner-Tu-Swift-Hohenburg equation. For small activity, we observe bacterial turbulence, while for large activity, we uncover hitherto unexplored regime of a turbulent flock where a global order coexists with turbulence. We present a simple closure model that predicts the turbulent flock and also qualitatively explains the transition to the bacterial turbulence regime via a transcritical bifurcation.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2601.17674,
title = {Flocking and mesoscale turbulence in three-dimensional active fluids},
author = {Prasad Perlekar},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.17674},
year = {2026}
}