Emergent spiral vortex of confined biased active particles

Confinement is known to have profound effects on the collective dynamics of many active systems. Here, we investigate a modeled active system in circular confinement consisting of biased active particles, where the direction of active force deviates a biased angle from the principle orientation of the anisotropic interaction. We find that such particles can spontaneously form a spiral vortex with two concentric and counter-rotating regions near the boundary. The emerged vortex can be measured by the vortex order parameter which shows nonmonotonic dependencies on both the biased angle and the strength of the anisotropic interaction. Our work can provide an understanding of such dynamic behaviors and enable different strategies for designing ordered collective behaviors.

Automated summary

Confinement has significant effects on the collective dynamics of active systems. In a modeled active system in circular confinement, biased active particles can spontaneously form a spiral vortex near the boundary with nonmonotonic dependencies on the biased angle and the strength of the anisotropic interaction. This work provides insights into dynamic behaviors and designing ordered collective behaviors.