Not-so-glass-like Caging and Fluctuations of an Active Matter Model

Simple active models of matter recapitulate complex biological phenomena. The out-of-equilibrium nature of these models, however, often makes them beyond the reach of first-principle descriptions. This limitation is particularly perplexing when attempting to distinguish between different glass-forming mechanisms. This talk considers a minimal active system in various spatial dimensions to identify the processes underlying its dynamical slowdown. Activity is found to markedly impact cage escape processes and critical fluctuations, thus offering a distinct perspective on the role of activity on sluggish dynamics.