Entropy production fluctuations encode collective behavior in active matter

Understand

We derive a general lower bound on distributions of entropy production in interacting active matter systems.

• The bound is tight in the limit that interparticle correlations are small and short-ranged, which we explore in four canonical active matter models.
• In all models studied, the bound is weak where collective fluctuations result in long-ranged correlations, which subsequently links the locations of phase transitions to enhanced entropy production fluctuations.
• We develop a theory for the onset of enhanced fluctuations and relate it to specific phase transitions in active Brownian particles.