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Nonmonotonic effects of nonreciprocal interactions on glass transition and diffusion in a two-dimensional emergent active system

Rui-xue Guo1,2, Jia-jian Li1,2, Chun-hua Zeng3,*, Ya-feng He4,†, and Bao-quan Ai1,2,‡

  • 1Key Laboratory of Atomic and Subatomic Structure and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Structure and Fundamental Interactions of Matter, School of Physics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
  • 2Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, and Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Quantum Matter, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
  • 3Faculty of Science, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
  • 4College of Physics Science and Technology, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China

  • *Contact author: zchh2009@126.com
  • †Contact author: heyf@hbu.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: aibq@scnu.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043005 – Published 1 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/vncw-4jjt

Abstract

The glass transition of supercooled liquids poses a significant challenge in statistical physics. Although the glass transition has been extensively investigated in various active systems, the influence of nonreciprocal interactions between particles on this transition remains an open question. In this study, we investigate the diffusion and glass transition within a two-dimensional Kob-Andersen mixture featuring nonreciprocal particle interactions. Our findings reveal that nonreciprocity among particles profoundly impacts the system's dynamics. Specifically, in the gaseous or high-temperature liquid phase, the diffusion coefficient exhibits a consistent increase with rising nonreciprocity. However, in the viscous liquid or glassy state, the emergence of large-scale directed motion leads to a weakly nonmonotonic relationship between the diffusion coefficient and nonreciprocity. As nonreciprocity increases, the diffusion coefficient experiences a decline, reaching a minimum at finite nonreciprocity. Under dense conditions and at low temperatures, the system undergoes a transition between the glassy and liquid states by modulating nonreciprocity. However, at high temperatures, nonreciprocity becomes less significant, and this transition cannot be achieved by changing nonreciprocity. Our findings shed light on the intricate interplay between particle interactions and system dynamics in the context of glass transition phenomena.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043005– Published 1 October, 2025
  • Received 19 May 2025
  • Accepted 15 September 2025
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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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