Active nematics on a substrate: Giant number fluctuations and long-time tails

Abstract

We construct the equations of motion for the coupled dynamics of order parameter and concentration for the nematic phase of driven particles on a solid surface, and show that they imply (i) giant number fluctuations, with a standard deviation proportional to the mean and (ii) long-time tails $\sim t^{-d/2}$ in the autocorrelation of the particle velocities in $d$ dimensions despite the absence of a hydrodynamic velocity field. Our predictions can be tested in experiments on aggregates of amoeboid cells as well as on layers of agitated granular matter.