Collective states of active matter with stochastic reversals: emergent chiral states and spontaneous current switching

Abstract: We study collective dynamical behavior of active particles with topological interactions and directional reversals. Surprising phenomena are shown to emerge as the interaction relaxation time is varied relative to the reversal rate, such as spontaneous formation of collective chiral states due to phase synchronization, and collective directional reversals in the presence of confinement. The results have a direct relevance to modelling and understanding collective reversals and synchronization phenomena in active matter.