Competition between lanes and transient jammed clusters in driven binary mixtures

Abstract

We consider mixtures of oppositely driven particles, showing that their non-equilibrium steady states form lanes parallel to the drive, which coexist with transient jammed clusters where particles are temporarily immobilised. We analyse the interplay between these two types of non-equilibrium pattern formation, including their implications for macroscopic demixing perpendicular to the drive. Finite-size scaling analysis indicates that there is no critical driving force associated with demixing, which appears as a crossover in finite systems. We attribute this effect to the disruption of long-ranged order by the transient jammed clusters.