Emergent Symmetry in Constant-Density Flocks

Abstract

In two dimensions, the ordered phase of constant-density flocks is described by a single angle field, which makes them arguably the simplest systems with a scale-free ordered phase of collective motion. We show that the equation governing the corresponding Nambu-Goldstone mode, completed with terms previously discarded, possesses on large scales an invariance combining a shear and a Galilean boost. Broken at the bare level, this symmetry is restored at the unique attractive fixed point, and the associated Ward identities fix the scaling exponents exactly, as confirmed numerically.