{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T19:01:46Z","timestamp":1790881306795,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"American Physical Society (APS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]],"date-time":"2026-07-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785196800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000266","name":"Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["EP\/Z534766\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EP\/Z534766\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000266","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.aps.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Phys. Rev. E"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>We investigate the dynamical pathways of a morphological transition in a two-dimensional active lattice gas undergoing motility-induced phase separation. The transition is between two locally stable morphologies of the liquid cluster: a system-spanning \u201cslab\u201d and a compact \u201cdroplet.\u201d We generate trajectories of this transition in both directions using forward flux sampling. We find that the droplet-to-slab transition always follows a similar mechanism to its equilibrium counterpart, but the reverse (slab-to-droplet) transition depends on rare nonequilibrium fluctuations. At low P\u00e9clet numbers the equilibrium and nonequilibrium pathways compete, while at high P\u00e9clet numbers the equilibrium pathway is entirely suppressed, and the only allowed mechanism involves a large vapor bubble. We discuss the implications of these findings for active matter systems more generally.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1103\/vdps-lhr9","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T15:19:55Z","timestamp":1782227995000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Nonequilibrium pathways between cluster morphologies in active phase separation: Necking, rupture, and cavitation"],"prefix":"10.1103","volume":"114","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-5309-8437","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Liheng","family":"Yao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/013meh722","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Cambridge"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02rx3b187","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Universit\u00e9 Grenoble Alpes"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02feahw73","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"CNRS"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/023n9q531","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"LIPhy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5922-7731","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Michael E.","family":"Cates","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/013meh722","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Cambridge"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0086-4573","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Robert L.","family":"Jack","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/013meh722","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Cambridge"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/013meh722","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Cambridge"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"16","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"vdps-lhr9Cc1R1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.100.218103","type":"journal-article"},{"key":"vdps-lhr9Cc2R1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.108.235702","type":"journal-article"},{"key":"vdps-lhr9Cc3R1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.110.055701","type":"journal-article"},{"key":"vdps-lhr9Cc4R1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1088\/1361-6633\/add278","type":"journal-article"},{"key":"vdps-lhr9Cc5R1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118165904","type":"book","volume-title":"A Weak Convergence Approach to the Theory of Large Deviations","author":"P. 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All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.","name":"copyright_statement","label":"Copyright statement","group":{"name":"copyright","label":"copyright"}},{"value":"2026","name":"copyright_year","label":"Copyright year","group":{"name":"copyright","label":"copyright"}},{"value":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/","name":"creative_commons_license","label":"Creative Commons license","group":{"name":"licenses","label":"Licenses"}},{"value":"\u00a92026 The authors","name":"copyright_holder","label":"Copyright holder","group":{"name":"copyright","label":"copyright"}}],"article-number":"014148"}}