Self-Avoidance Governs Re-entrant Coil-Globule Transition of Inertial Active Brownian Ring Polymers
Abstract
Active matter systems composed of self-propelled entities exhibit a wide range of out-of-equilibrium phase behaviors and collective dynamics. Assemblies of active particles, e.g., in a linear structure, are particularly interesting, as they exhibit an intriguing interplay between activity and geometrical restrictions due to self-avoidance and entanglements. Using Langevin dynamics simulations of an active Brownian ring polymer with translational and rotational inertia, we uncover an inertia-driven re-entrant coil-globule transition in the absence of any attractive interactions. We show that rotational inertia plays a paramount role, leading, in the globular state, to spontaneous, nonzero, radially outward polarization of the active forces. Self-avoidance and entanglements break the rotational symmetry of active beads and effectively stabilize the globular states. The transition becomes increasingly sharp with increasing rotational inertia, yielding highly compact globular conformations at intermediate activities, whereas at high activity the polymer re-expands into a coil state. Scaling of the radius of gyration reveals crossovers from self-avoiding, phantom-like to compact-globular structures. Further, rotational inertia enhances transport properties, with an intermediate activity-induced Rouse-type bead diffusion and a long-time diffusion coefficient displaying a power-law dependence on the moment of inertia. Our study establishes a purely inertia-induced mechanism for controlling the collapse of active polymers, arising from spontaneous active-force polarization and self-avoidance.
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BibTeX
@misc{palariya2026selfavoidance,
title = {{Self-Avoidance Governs Re-entrant Coil-Globule Transition of Inertial Active Brownian Ring Polymers}},
author = {Rakesh Palariya and Arindam Panda and Roland G. Winkler and Sunil P Singh},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.16188},
eprint = {2610.16188},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.16188},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Self-Avoidance Governs Re-entrant Coil-Globule Transition of Inertial Active Brownian Ring Polymers
AU - Rakesh Palariya
AU - Arindam Panda
AU - Roland G. Winkler
AU - Sunil P Singh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.16188
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.16188
AB - Active matter systems composed of self-propelled entities exhibit a wide range of out-of-equilibrium phase behaviors and collective dynamics. Assemblies of active particles, e.g., in a linear structure, are particularly interesting, as they exhibit an intriguing interplay between activity and geometrical restrictions due to self-avoidance and entanglements. Using Langevin dynamics simulations of an active Brownian ring polymer with translational and rotational inertia, we uncover an inertia-driven re-entrant coil-globule transition in the absence of any attractive interactions. We show that rotational inertia plays a paramount role, leading, in the globular state, to spontaneous, nonzero, radially outward polarization of the active forces. Self-avoidance and entanglements break the rotational symmetry of active beads and effectively stabilize the globular states. The transition becomes increasingly sharp with increasing rotational inertia, yielding highly compact globular conformations at intermediate activities, whereas at high activity the polymer re-expands into a coil state. Scaling of the radius of gyration reveals crossovers from self-avoiding, phantom-like to compact-globular structures. Further, rotational inertia enhances transport properties, with an intermediate activity-induced Rouse-type bead diffusion and a long-time diffusion coefficient displaying a power-law dependence on the moment of inertia. Our study establishes a purely inertia-induced mechanism for controlling the collapse of active polymers, arising from spontaneous active-force polarization and self-avoidance.
ER -