Disordered yet directed: The emergence of polar flocks with disordered interactions
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Lardet, Eloise
Voituriez, Raphaël
Grigolon, Silvia
Bertrand, Thibault
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Flocking is a prime example of how robust collective behavior can emerge from simple interaction rules. The flocking transition has been studied extensively since the inception of the original Vicsek model. Here, we introduce a novel self-propelled particle model with quenched disorder in the pairwise alignment interaction couplings akin to a spin glass model. We find that increasing the variance of the coupling distribution can promote (rather than destroy) the emergence of global polar order. In particular, we show that our model can display a flocking phase even when the majority of the interaction couplings are anti-aligning. Activity is the key ingredient to reduce frustration in the system as it allows local particle clustering combined with self-organization of the particles to favor neighborhoods with strong cooperative interactions.
Date Acceptance
2026-07-06
Citation
Physical Review Research
ISSN
2643-1564
Publisher
American Physical Society
Journal / Book Title
Physical Review Research
Copyright Statement
Copyright This paper is embargoed until publication. Once published the Version of Record (VoR) will be available on immediate open access.
License URL
Publication Status
Accepted
Date Publish Online
2026-07-06