Symmetry breaking and autonomous motion from particle-wall interactions

Determine whether particle-wall alignment interactions in narrow channels can break spatial symmetry and induce autonomous directed motion or other nonequilibrium phenomena.

Background

The paper studies dilute active particles moving through narrow channels whose self-propulsion directions are stabilized at selected orientations near the walls. The reported transport is unbiased, but the authors identify the possibility that suitably designed particle-wall interactions could produce spatial symmetry breaking and thereby generate directed motion or related nonequilibrium effects. They leave this possibility unresolved as a future-work question.

References

Further, our study brings up several related issues for future work. Specifically, can particle-wall interaction break spatial symmetry to induce autonomous directed motion or other non-equilibrium phenomena?

— Particle-Wall Alignment Interaction and Active Brownian Diffusion Through Narrow Channels  (2608.18526 - Bag et al., 19 Aug 2026) in Section: Summary and concluding remarks