Related papers: Soft swimming: Exploiting deformable interfaces fo…

The boundary conditions at the deformable interface between two contacting fluids are derived for the general case of the large-amplitude perturbations. The interface is modeled as perturbed free boundary that evolves in time, and the…

In a world without inertia, Purcell's scallop theorem states that in a Newtonian fluid a time-reversible motion cannot produce any net force or net flow. Here we consider the extent to which the nonlinear rheological behavior of…

We investigate the self-locomotion of an elongated microswimmer by virtue of the unidirectional tangential surface treadmilling. We show that the propulsion could be almost frictionless, as the microswimmer is propelled forward with the…

This paper presents an overview and discussion of magnetocapillary self-assemblies. New results are presented, in particular concerning the possible development of future applications. These self-organizing structures possess the notable…

Swimming at a micrometer scale demands particular strategies. Indeed when inertia is negligible as compared to viscous forces (i.e. Reynolds number $Re$ is lower than unity), hydrodynamics equations are reversible in time. To achieve…

We present a detailed analysis of the effective force between two smooth spherical colloids floating at a fluid interface due to deformations of the interface. The results hold in general and are applicable independently of the source of…

We consider some basic principles of fluid-induced lubrication at soft interfaces. In particular, we show how the presence of a soft substrate leads to an increase in the physical separation between surfaces sliding past each other. By…

Snapping beams enable rapid geometric transitions through nonlinear instability, offering an efficient means of generating motion in soft robotic systems. In this study, a tendon-driven mechanism consisting of spiral-based metabeams was…

We consider models of relativistic matter containing sharp interfaces across which the matter model changes. These models will be relevant for neutron stars with crusts, phase transitions, or for viscous boundaries where the length scale is…

In the absence of inertia, a reciprocal swimmer achieves no net motion in a viscous Newtonian fluid. Here, we investigate the ability of a reciprocally actuated particle to translate through a complex fluid that possesses a network using…

Mixing fluid in a container at low Reynolds number - in an inertialess environment - is not a trivial task. Reciprocating motions merely lead to cycles of mixing and unmixing, so continuous rotation, as used in many technological…

Dynamics at low Reynolds numbers experiences recent revival in the fields of biophysics and active matter. While in bulk isotropic fluids it is exhaustively studied, this is less so in anisotropic fluids and in confined situations. Here, we…

Undulatory locomotion is a means of self-propulsion that relies on the generation and propagation of waves along a body. As a mode of locomotion it is primitive and relatively simple, yet can be remarkably robust. No wonder then, that it is…

A variety of swimming microorganisms, called ciliates, exploit the bending of a large number of small and densely-packed organelles, termed cilia, in order to propel themselves in a viscous fluid. We consider a spherical envelope model for…

Actuating periodically an elastic filament in a viscous liquid generally breaks the constraints of Purcell's scallop theorem, resulting in the generation of a net propulsive force. This observation suggests a method to design simple…

This work aims at finding optimal navigation policies for thin, deformable microswimmers that progress in a viscous fluid by propagating a sinusoidal undulation along their slender body. These active filaments are embedded in a prescribed,…

The swimming of a circular disk at low Reynolds number is studied for distortion waves along its two planar surfaces with wavelength much smaller than the size of the disk. The calculation is based on an extension of Taylor's work for a…

We study the relative translation of two arbitrarily shaped objects, caused by their hydrodynamic interaction as they are forced through a viscous fluid in the limit of zero Reynolds number. It is well known that in the case of two rigid…

Classical descriptions of flapping propulsion near a free surface emphasize the energetic penalties of wave generation, treating the interface primarily as an energy sink. Here, we show that the same deformable boundary can also act as a…

A single flexible filament can be actuated to escape from the scallop theorem and generate net propulsion at low Reynolds number. In this work, we study the dynamics of a simple boundary-driven multi-filament swimmer, a two-arm clamshell…