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  • Open Access

Understanding quorum sensing self-organization: Clustering and defect-induced ordering of diffusing particles

Feifei Liu1, Vyacheslav R. Misko1,2, Yunyun Li1,*, and Fabio Marchesoni1

  • 1MOE Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro-Structured Materials, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
  • 2Department of Chemical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

  • *Contact author: yunyunli@tongji.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043018 – Published 7 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/jqgq-3qq6

Abstract

Quorum sensing (QS) is known in biology as a form of intercellular communication mediated by signaling molecules called autoinducers. The QS protocol governs the transition from individual to collective cell behavior once a critical population density is reached. Using numerical simulations, we investigate how defects influence the QS transition and the structural organization of the resulting colonies. Our model system consists of a mixture of slow (“cold”) and fast (“hot”) diffusing colloidal particles that obey the QS protocol, together with defect particles characterized by a constant diffusivity. A striking reentrant solidification of QS particles, characterized by long-range order, is induced by hot defects, whereas cold defects give rise to amorphous structures with only short-range order. These findings deepen our understanding of the QS interaction and provide a mechanism to control the degree of organization in QS systems, with potential applications in robotics, social sciences, and medicine—for instance, in overcoming antimicrobial resistance.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043018– Published 7 October, 2026
  • Received 14 May 2026
  • Accepted 19 September 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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