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Role of Correlations in the Collective Behavior of Microswimmer Suspensions

Joakim Stenhammar, Cesare Nardini, Rupert W. Nash, Davide Marenduzzo, and Alexander Morozov
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 028005 – Published 13 July 2017
Physics logo See Synopsis: Bacteria Never Swim Alone
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Abstract

In this Letter, we study the collective behavior of a large number of self-propelled microswimmers immersed in a fluid. Using unprecedentedly large-scale lattice Boltzmann simulations, we reproduce the transition to bacterial turbulence. We show that, even well below the transition, swimmers move in a correlated fashion that cannot be described by a mean-field approach. We develop a novel kinetic theory that captures these correlations and is nonperturbative in the swimmer density. To provide an experimentally accessible measure of correlations, we calculate the diffusivity of passive tracers and reveal its nontrivial density dependence. The theory is in quantitative agreement with the lattice Boltzmann simulations and captures the asymmetry between pusher and puller swimmers below the transition to turbulence.

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  • Received 1 February 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.028005

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft MatterPhysics of Living SystemsStatistical Physics & ThermodynamicsFluid Dynamics

Synopsis

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Bacteria Never Swim Alone

Published 13 July 2017

Simulations and theory indicate that the “synchronized swimming” of bacteria occurs in much sparser suspensions of the microorganisms than expected.

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Authors & Affiliations

Joakim Stenhammar1,*, Cesare Nardini2,3,4,†, Rupert W. Nash5, Davide Marenduzzo3, and Alexander Morozov3,‡

  • 1Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden
  • 2DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom
  • 3SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom
  • 4Service de Physique de l’État Condensé, CNRS UMR 3680, CEA-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
  • 5EPCC, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom

  • *joakim.stenhammar@fkem1.lu.se
  • cesare.nardini@gmail.com
  • alexander.morozov@ph.ed.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 119, Iss. 2 — 14 July 2017

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