Fully developed active turbulence defined through a non-equilibrium phase transition

Non-equilibrium systems challenge the standard definitions of phases and phase transitions from equilibrium statistical physics. For example, in active fluids, continuous energy injection at the microscale drives the system intrinsically out of equilibrium. This process gives rise to collective turbulent-like flows whose onset remains poorly defined. Here we show that the onset corresponds to an activity-driven phase transition, marked by the emergence of a system-spanning critical backbone of vorticity nodal lines. Combining two independent experiments, namely, microtubule–kinesin active nematics and dense suspensions of swimming bacteria, with large-scale simulations of active nematics and fluctuating nematohydrodynamics, we show that this transition occurs at a critical activity threshold. Below this threshold, vorticity structures are fragmented and vortex centres form only finite, mechanically floppy networks. Above this threshold, the nodal lines of the vorticity field percolate and the vortex centres form a rigid, system-spanning cluster. The geometric transition is characterized by the emergence of critical percolation statistics for the vorticity nodal lines, whereas the mechanical transition reflects the emergence of a vortex configuration that shows rigidity percolation statistics for vortex centres. We show that both transitions are absent in equilibrium systems that obey detailed balance, demonstrating that the transition is intrinsically non-equilibrium. These results establish an experimentally accessible definition of fully developed active turbulence, linking microscopic activity to macroscopic geometry, and mechanics of living systems. The continuous energy injection in active fluids leads to active turbulence. Now, geometric and mechanical analyses reveal a phase transition that leads to fully developed active turbulence.