Order-disorder transition and phase separation in delay Vicsek model

Abstract Interactions in active matter systems inherently involve delays due to information processing and actuation lags. We numerically investigate the impact of such delays on the phase behavior of the Vicsek model for motile active matter at a large but fixed system size. While the delayed Vicsek model retains the same three phases as the standard version-an ordered state, a liquid-gas coexistence state, and a disordered state-the presence of delay qualitatively alters the system’s dynamics. At the relatively high velocity considered in this study, the critical noise for the transition between the ordered and coexistence states exhibits a non-monotonic dependence on delay, whereas the critical noise required for the transition to the disordered state increases with delay. Consequently, the width of the noise interval in which phase separation occurs broadens with increasing delay. Short delays stabilize the ordered phase, while long delays destabilize it in favor of the coexistence phase, which is consistently stabilized compared to the disordered state. Furthermore, the number of bands observed in the coexistence state at a given noise increases, and the time required for their formation decreases with delay. This acceleration is attributed to the emergence of swirling structures whose typical radius grows with increasing delay. Our results demonstrate that time delay in the Vicsek model acts as an effective control parameter for tuning the system’s dynamic phase behavior.