Kinetic Monte Carlo Algorithms for Active Matter Systems

Juliane U. Klamser, Olivier Dauchot, and Julien Tailleur
Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 150602
10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.150602

We study kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) descriptions of active particles. We show that, when they rely on purely persistent, active steps, their continuous-time limit is ill-defined, leading to the vanishing of trademark behaviors of active matter such as the motility-induced phase separation, ratchet effects, as well as to a diverging mechanical pressure. We then show how, under an appropriate scaling, mixing passive steps with active ones leads to a well-defined continuous-time limit that however differs from standard active dynamics. Finally, we propose new KMC algorithms whose continuous-time limits lead to the dynamics of active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck, active Brownian, and run-and-tumble particles.