Enhanced Long Wavelength Mermin-Wagner Fluctuations in Two-Dimensional Active Crystals and Glasses

Enhanced Long Wavelength Mermin-Wagner Fluctuations in Two-Dimensional Active Crystals and Glasses | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Enhanced Long Wavelength Mermin-Wagner Fluctuations in Two-Dimensional Active Crystals and Glasses Smarajit Karmakar, Subhodeep Dey, Antik Bhattacharya This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4017223/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In two-dimensional (2D) systems, the Mermin-Wagner effect plays a significant role, giving rise to striking dimensionality effects marked by long-range density fluctuations and the divergence of various dynamic properties. This effect also unequivocally negates the possibility of stable crystalline phases in 2D particulate systems with continuous degrees of freedom. This effect has been recently discerned in glass-forming liquids, displaying characteristic signatures like the logarithmic divergence of mean squared displacement in the plateau regime. We explored these long-wavelength fluctuations in crystalline solids and glass-forming liquids in the presence of non-equilibrium active forces. Active systems can be thought of as a minimalistic model for understanding various non-equilibrium systems where the constituent particles' dynamics are controlled by both temperature and internal or external active forces. Such models often offer valuable insights into the dynamical behavior of biological systems, such as collections of cells, bacteria, ant colonies, or even synthetic self-propelled Janus colloids. Our study reveals that fluctuations stemming from active forces get strongly coupled with long wavelength fluctuations arising from thermal effects, resulting in dramatic dynamical effects in 2D systems. We also shed light on how these fluctuations impact dynamical heterogeneity, a defining characteristic of glassy dynamics. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Phase transitions and critical phenomena Physical sciences/Physics/Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics/Statistical physics Physical sciences/Physics/Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics/Phase transitions and critical phenomena Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files MerminWagnerSupplementary.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4017223","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":279135442,"identity":"8c8e5548-18fb-44fb-876a-11f5b933ea76","order_by":0,"name":"Smarajit Karmakar","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA50lEQVRIie3PIQsCMRTA8fcQTAerEwW/woOBKAh+lbNoERRMFrlxoOXAJid+DIvxYHAWxSpcEItNECwGgxuKcWoT3D/twX7sDcDl+tk8DgwwOGPwmJNPCC+MUMZfEABOKeCLWCtP1fF8LVWHYh/KcLCELmMJqp6FUNYSs0gvVklRys0aarPYBxXbSNEX4D3I+CBHQLQDUJ5tsXn7gjdNhP6+NKSxTewEso7ImVco/yQEvp1Q1unnSh4vxGnTEE581wzeLbbAUzRkLFwdNKkTmyh1sS5mwuh15GYM3gHd9YM7LpfL9b/dAUk4SLM4W0GuAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5653-6328","institution":"Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Hyderabad","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Smarajit","middleName":"","lastName":"Karmakar","suffix":""},{"id":279135443,"identity":"0a963c29-618c-4e91-8892-cb2f8bec2c68","order_by":1,"name":"Subhodeep Dey","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Hyderabad","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Subhodeep","middleName":"","lastName":"Dey","suffix":""},{"id":279135444,"identity":"abbbe9f6-d9d2-442c-9a22-3589c3d9e220","order_by":2,"name":"Antik Bhattacharya","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Hyderabad","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Antik","middleName":"","lastName":"Bhattacharya","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-03-05 13:24:03","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4017223/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4017223/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61366-0","type":"published","date":"2025-07-01T04:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":85831245,"identity":"ef67174b-5173-449e-880e-223d60939250","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-02 07:50:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":10634936,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"MerminWagner.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4017223/v1_covered_ba1ec2df-b032-4131-b5a8-6571a102d1bb.pdf"},{"id":54533406,"identity":"d38e58e5-23cc-46a2-b7b0-eacaf4da3cea","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-12 01:41:59","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":2924896,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"MerminWagnerSupplementary.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4017223/v1/b1f232a5ee624e0e7f1a9318.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Enhanced Long Wavelength Mermin-Wagner Fluctuations in Two-Dimensional Active Crystals and Glasses","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4017223/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4017223/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"In two-dimensional (2D) systems, the Mermin-Wagner effect plays a significant role, giving rise to striking dimensionality effects marked by long-range density fluctuations and the divergence of various dynamic properties. 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