Singular density correlations in chiral active fluids in three dimensions

Abstract: We investigate density fluctuations in three-dimensional chiral active fluids by using a simple particle model of helical self-propelled particles. Each particle is driven by a self-propelled force and a constant uniaxial chiral torque, whose direction is identical for all particles. Due to the helical nature of the particle motion, the system is generically anisotropic even when it is spatially homogeneous. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the helicity induces an anisotropic pattern and a singularity in the static structure factor (the density correlation function in Fourier space) in the low-wavenumber limit. Moreover, the system in the limit of infinite persistence time exhibits hyperuniformity in the direction perpendicular to the chiral torque, while giant density fluctuations emerge along the parallel direction. We then construct a fluctuating hydrodynamic theory for the system to describe the singular behavior. A linear analysis of the resulting equations yields an analytical expression for the static structure factor, which qualitatively agrees with our numerical findings.