Controlling the glass transition through active fluctuating interactions

Abstract

Fluctuating pairwise interactions are understood to drive fluidlike states in dense biological systems. These states find a broad range of functionalities, such as directing growth during morphogenesis and forming aggregates with heightened mechanical response. However, a tractable model capturing the role of microscopic fluctuating interactions in these structural transitions is crucially lacking. Here, we study a p-spin model with fluctuating pairwise couplings (of strength Da and persistence time ta) as a schematic model for interactionmediated fluidization. We find that while stronger fluctuations suppress the glass transition, more persistent fluctuations have the opposite effect. We identify the presence of an emergent fluctuation-dissipation relation at long times. We numerically extract the critical temperature Tg(Da, ta) from a scaling relation near the transition, illustrating how microscopic fluctuations control the glass transition.

Transition to Collective Motion in Nonreciprocal Active Matter: Coarse Graining Agent-Based Models into Fluctuating Hydrodynamics
David Martin, Daniel Seara, Yael Avni +2
Physical Review X21 Oct 2026Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full text16 citedCondensed matter Statistical & nonlinear physicsHAL
Controlling transitions between nonequilibrium states through active bath engineering
Dima Boriskovsky, Salambô Dago, Cyriaque Genet +6
arXiv8 Oct 2026PreprintCC BY 4.0Full textCondensed matter Statistical & nonlinear physicsarXiv
Controlling pair dynamics of rotating magnetic microparticles through radial and transverse interactions
Dongfang Fu, Leilei Wang, Kailai Wang +2
arXiv5 Sep 2026PreprintarXiv licenceFull textCondensed matter Fluid dynamicsarXiv
Fully developed active turbulence defined through a non-equilibrium phase transition
Lasse Bonn, Tianxiang Ma, Olga Bantysh +7
arXiv30 Sep 2026PreprintCC BY 4.0Full textBiological & medical physics Condensed matterarXiv
Fluctuating chemically active droplets
Guido L. A. Kusters, Noah Ziethen, Michael E. Cates +1
arXiv6 Oct 2026PreprintarXiv licenceFull textCondensed matter Statistical & nonlinear physicsarXiv

Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{sezik2026controlling,
  title = {{Controlling the glass transition through active fluctuating interactions}},
  author = {Emir Sezik and Henry Alston and Thibault Bertrand},
  journal = {Physical Review E},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1103/fm3j-829g},
  eprint = {2509.07619},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05753571v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Controlling the glass transition through active fluctuating interactions
AU  - Emir Sezik
AU  - Henry Alston
AU  - Thibault Bertrand
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/17
JO  - Physical Review E
DO  - 10.1103/fm3j-829g
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05753571v1
AB  - Fluctuating pairwise interactions are understood to drive fluidlike states in dense biological systems. These states find a broad range of functionalities, such as directing growth during morphogenesis and forming aggregates with heightened mechanical response. However, a tractable model capturing the role of microscopic fluctuating interactions in these structural transitions is crucially lacking. Here, we study a p-spin model with fluctuating pairwise couplings (of strength Da and persistence time ta) as a schematic model for interactionmediated fluidization. We find that while stronger fluctuations suppress the glass transition, more persistent fluctuations have the opposite effect. We identify the presence of an emergent fluctuation-dissipation relation at long times. We numerically extract the critical temperature Tg(Da, ta) from a scaling relation near the transition, illustrating how microscopic fluctuations control the glass transition.
SN  - 2470-0045
SN  - 2470-0053
ER  -

Abstract

Related

Cite