%0 Journal Article
%T Aspects of the density field in an active nematic
%A Shradha Mishra
%A Sanjay Puri
%A Sriram Ramaswamy
%J Physics
%D 2014
%I arXiv
%R 10.1098/rsta.2013.0364
%X Active nematics are conceptually the simplest orientationally ordered phase of self-driven particles, but have proved to be a perennial source of surprises. We show here through numerical solution of coarse-grained equations for order parameter and density that the growth of the active nematic phase from the isotropic phase is necessarily accompanied by a clumping of the density. The growth kinetics of the density domains is shown to be faster than the 1/3-law expected for variables governed by a conservation law. Other results presented include the suppression of density fluctuations in the stationary ordered nematic by the imposition of an orienting field. We close by posing some open questions.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.5589v1