.. index:: fix propel/self

fix propel/self command
=======================

Syntax
""""""

.. parsed-literal::

   fix ID group-ID propel/self mode magnitude keyword values

* ID, group-ID are documented in :doc:`fix <fix>` command
* propel/self = style name of this fix command
* mode = *dipole* or *velocity* or *quat*
* magnitude = magnitude of self-propulsion force
* zero or one keyword/value pairs may be appended
* keyword = *qvector*

  .. parsed-literal::

       *qvector* value = direction of force in ellipsoid frame
        *sx*, *sy*, *sz* = components of *qvector*


Examples
""""""""

.. code-block:: LAMMPS

   fix active all propel/self dipole 40.0
   fix active all propel/self velocity 10.0
   fix active all propel/self quat 15.7 qvector 1.0 0.0 0.0

Description
"""""""""""

Add a force to each atom in the group due to a self-propulsion force. The
force is given by

.. math::

   F_i = f_P e_i

where *i* is the particle the force is being applied to, :math:`f_P`
is the magnitude of the force, and :math:`e_i` is the vector direction
of the force. The specification of :math:`e_i` is based on which of the
three keywords (*dipole* or *velocity* or *quat*) one selects.

For mode *dipole*, :math:`e_i` is just equal to
the dipole vectors of the atoms in the group. Therefore, if the dipoles
are not unit vectors, the :math:`e_i` will not be unit vectors.

.. note::

   If another command changes the magnitude of the dipole, this force will
   change accordingly (since :math:`|e_i|` will change, which is physically
   equivalent to re-scaling :math:`f_P` while keeping :math:`|e_i|` constant),
   and no warning will be provided by LAMMPS. This is almost never what you
   want, so ensure you are not changing dipole magnitudes with another LAMMPS
   fix or pair style. Furthermore, self-propulsion forces (almost) always
   set :math:`e_i`  to be a unit vector for all times, so it's best to set
   all the dipole magnitudes to 1.0 unless you have a good reason not to
   (see the :doc:`set <set>` command on how to do this).

For mode *velocity*, :math:`e_i` points in the direction
of the current velocity (a unit-vector). This can be interpreted as a
velocity-dependent friction, as proposed by e.g. :ref:`(Erdmann) <Erdmann1>`.

For mode *quat*, :math:`e_i` points in the direction of a unit
vector, oriented in the coordinate frame of the ellipsoidal particles,
which defaults to point along the x-direction. This default behavior
can be changed by via the *quatvec* keyword.

The optional *quatvec* keyword specifies the direction of self-propulsion
via a unit vector (sx,sy,sz). The arguments *sx*, *sy*, and *sz*, are
defined within the coordinate frame of the atom's
ellipsoid. For instance, for an ellipsoid with long axis along
its x-direction, if one wanted the self-propulsion force to also
be along this axis, set *sx* equal to 1 and *sy*, *sz* both equal
to zero. This keyword may only be specified for mode *quat*.

.. note::

   In using keyword *quatvec*, the three arguments *sx*,
   *sy*, and *sz* will be automatically normalized to components
   of a unit vector internally to avoid users having to explicitly
   do so themselves. Therefore, in mode *quat*, the vectors :math:`e_i`
   will always be of unit length.


Along with adding a force contribution, this fix can also
contribute to the virial (pressure) of the system, defined as
:math:`f_P \sum_i <e_i . r_i>/(d V)`, where :math:`r_i` is the
*unwrapped* coordinate of particle i in the case of periodic
boundary conditions. See :ref:`(Winkler) <Winkler1>` for a
discussion of this active pressure contribution.

For modes *dipole* and *quat*, this fix is by default
included in pressure computations.

For mode *velocity*, this fix is by default not included
in pressure computations.


.. note::

   In contrast to equilibrium systems, pressure of active systems
   in general depends on the geometry of the container.
   The active pressure contribution as calculated in this fix
   is only valid for certain boundary conditions (spherical
   walls, rectangular walls, or periodic boundary conditions).
   For other geometries, the pressure must be measured via
   explicit calculation of the force per unit area on a wall,
   and so one must not calculate it using this fix.
   (Use :doc:`fix_modify <fix_modify>` as described below
   to turn off the virial contribution of this fix). Again,
   see :ref:`(Winkler) <Winkler1>` for discussion of why this
   is the case.

   Furthermore, when dealing with active systems, the temperature
   is no longer well defined. Therefore, one should ensure that
   the *virial* flag is used in the
   :doc:`compute pressure <compute_pressure>` command (turning
   off temperature contributions).

----------

Restart, fix_modify, output, run start/stop, minimize info
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

No information about this fix is written to :doc:`binary restart files <restart>`.

The :doc:`fix_modify <fix_modify>` *virial* option is supported by this
fix to add the contribution due to the added forces on atoms to the
system's virial as part of :doc:`thermodynamic output <thermo_style>`.
The default is *virial yes* for keywords *dipole* and *quat*. The
default is *virial no* for keyword *velocity*.


No parameter of this fix can be used with the *start/stop* keywords of
the :doc:`run <run>` command.


Restrictions
""""""""""""

With keyword *dipole*, this fix only works when the DIPOLE package is enabled.
See the :doc:`Build package <Build_package>` page for more info.

This fix is part of the BROWNIAN package.  It is only enabled if
LAMMPS was built with that package.  See the :doc:`Build package <Build_package>`
doc page for more info.


Related commands
""""""""""""""""

:doc:`fix efield <fix_efield>` , :doc:`fix setforce <fix_setforce>`,
:doc:`fix addforce <fix_addforce>`

Default
"""""""

none

----------


.. _Erdmann1:

**(Erdmann)** U. Erdmann , W. Ebeling, L. Schimansky-Geier, and F. Schweitzer,
Eur. Phys. J. B 15, 105-113, 2000.


.. _Winkler1:

**(Winkler)** Winkler, Wysocki, and Gompper, Soft Matter, 11, 6680 (2015).
