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    Nonuniqueness of the steady state for run-and-tumble particles with a double-well interaction potential

    Léo Touzo1,2 and Pierre Le Doussal1

    Phys. Rev. E 113, 024106 – Published 5 February, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/9b6g-gmdk

    Abstract

    We study N run-and-tumble particles (RTPs) in one dimension interacting via a double-well pairwise potential W(r)=−k0r2/2+gr4/4, which is repulsive at short interparticle distance r and attractive at large distance. At large time, the system forms a bound state where the density of particles has a finite support. We focus on the determination of the total density of particles in the stationary state ρs(x), in the limit N→+∞. We obtain an explicit expression for ρs(x) as a function of the “renormalized” interaction parameter k=k0−3m2 where m2 is the second moment of ρs(x). Interestingly, this stationary solution exhibits a transition between a connected and a disconnected support for a certain value of k, which has no equivalent in the case of Brownian particles. Analyzing in detail the expression of the stationary density in the two cases, we find a variety of regimes characterized by different behaviors near the edges of the support and around x=0. Furthermore, by studying the relation between k and k0, we find that the mapping k0→k becomes multivalued below a certain value of the tumbling rate γ of the RTPs for some range of values of k0 near the transition, implying the existence of two stable solutions. Finally, we show that in the case of a disconnected support, it is possible to observe steady states where the density ρs(x) is not symmetric, characterized by a third moment m3 which can take a continuous range of values. All our analytical predictions are in good agreement with numerical simulations already for systems of N=100 particles. The nonuniqueness of the stationary state is a particular feature of this model in the presence of active (RTP) noise, which contrasts with the uniqueness of the Gibbs equilibrium for Brownian particles. We argue that these results are also relevant for a class of more realistic interactions with both an attractive and a repulsive part but which decay at infinity.

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