Disorder-Induced Long-Ranged Correlations in Scalar Active Matter

We study the impact of a random quenched potentials and torques on scalar active matter. Microscopic simulations reveal that motility-induced phase separation is replaced in two-dimensions by an asymptotically homogeneous phase with anomalous long-ranged correlations and non-vanishing steady-state currents. Using a combination of phenomenological models and a field-theoretical treatment, we show the existence of a lower-critical dimension, $d_c=4$, below which phase separation is only observed for systems smaller than an Imry-Ma length-scale. We identify a weak-disorder regime in which the structure factor scales as $S(q) \sim 1/q^2$ which accounts for our numerics. In $d=2$ we predict that, at larger scales, the behaviour should cross over to a strong-disorder regime. In $d>2$, these two regimes exist separately, depending on the strength of the potential.

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