Active dumbbells: dynamics and morphology in the coexisting region

Abstract

With the help of molecular dynamics simulations we study an ensemble of active dumbbells in purely repulsive interaction. We derive the phase diagram in the density-activity plane and we characterise the various phases with liquid, hexatic and solid character. The analysis of the structural and dynamical properties, such as enstrophy, mean square displacement, polarisation, and correlation functions, shows the continuous character of liquid and hexatic phases in the coexisting region when the activity is increased starting from the passive limit.