Self-Organization of Confined Binary Active Particles

The emergent behavior of active systems with self-propelled particles can be found in nature at many length scales, from bird flocking to bacteria swarming. Most previous studies investigate the collective behavior of systems with uniform morphology. However, many biological systems function via the interactions between multiple distinct organisms, often with differing geometries. In this study, we investigate the interactions between active particles of differing morphology. Our system consists of a mixture of self-propelled rod-like and sphere-like particles which exert pairwise repulsive forces and torques on each other in a 2D confined domain. Segregation of rods and spheres into distinct clusters can be observed without any adhesion. Our study will provide important insight in phase separation and cell sorting in co-cultured organisms.