Related papers: Flagellar Synchronization Through Direct Hydrodyna…
We present new constrained and free-swimming experiments and simulations of a pair of pitching hydrofoils interacting in a minimal school. The hydrofoils have an out-of-phase synchronization and they are varied through in-line, staggered,…
We present and analyze a theoretical model for the dynamics and interactions of "capillary surfers," which are millimetric objects that self-propel while floating at the interface of a vibrating fluid bath. In our companion paper [1], we…
Synchronization with noise is important for understanding biophysical processes at nano- and micro-meter scales, such as neuronal firing and flagellar rotations. To understand the energetics of these processes, stochastic thermodynamics…
Interactions in nature can be described by their coupling strength, direction of coupling and coupling function. The coupling strength and directionality are relatively well understood and studied, at least for two interacting systems,…
Many swimming microorganisms, such as bacteria and sperm, use flexible flagella to move through viscoelastic media in their natural environments. In this paper we address the effects a viscoelastic fluid has on the motion and beating…
Swimming microorganisms create flows that influence their mutual interactions and modify the rheology of their suspensions. While extensively studied theoretically, these flows have not been measured in detail around any freely-swimming…
Rhythmogenesis, which is critical for many biological functions, involves a transition to coherent activity through cell-cell communication. In the absence of centralized coordination by specialized cells (pacemakers), competing oscillating…
We used x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy to study the dynamics in the lamellar phase of a platelet suspension as a function of the particle concentration. We measured the collective diffusion coefficient along the director of the…
The mechanism of hydrodynamics-induced pairing of soft particles, namely closed bilayer membranes (vesicles, a model system for red blood cells) and drops, is studied numerically with a special attention paid to the role of the confinement…
Cellular appendages such as cilia and flagella represent universal tools enabling cells and microbes, among other essential functionalities, to propel themselves in diverse environments. In its planktonic, i.e. freely swimming, state the…
Many bacteria are motile by means of one or more rotating rigid helical flagella, making them the only known organism to use rotation as a means of propulsion. The rotation is supplied by the bacterial flagellar motor, a particularly…
Swimming micro-organisms such as bacteria or spermatozoa are typically found in dense suspensions, and exhibit collective modes of locomotion qualitatively different from that displayed by isolated cells. In the dilute limit where…
In a recent letter (Friedrich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109:138102, 2012), a minimal model swimmer was proposed that propels itself at low Reynolds numbers by a revolving motion of a pair of spheres. The motion of the two spheres can…
The journey of mammalian spermatozoa in nature is well-known to be reliant on their individual motility. Often swimming in crowded microenvironments, the progress of any single swimmer is likely dependent on their interactions with other…
Flagella allow eukaryotic cells to move and pump fluid. We present the first three-dimensional, time-resolved imaging of the flagellar waveform of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a model alga found in fresh water. During the power stroke, we…
Motile eukaryotic cells propel themselves in viscous fluids by passing waves of bending deformation down their flagella. An infinitely long flagellum achieves a hydrodynamically optimal low-Reynolds number locomotion when the angle between…
Cilia and flagella are actively bending slender organelles, performing functions such as motility, feeding and embryonic symmetry breaking. We review the mechanics of viscous-dominated microscale flow, including time-reversal symmetry, drag…
Synchronization of two actuated sheets serves as a simple model for the interaction between flagellated microswimmers. Various factors, including inertia, sheet elasticity, and fluid viscoelasticity, have been suggested to facilitate the…
Microorganism motility often takes place within complex, viscoelastic fluid environments, e.g., sperm in cervicovaginal mucus and bacteria in biofilms. In such complex fluids, strains and stresses generated by the microorganism are stored…
Although the auger-like 'swimming' motility of the African trypanosome was described upon its discovery over one hundred years ago, the precise biomechanical and biophysical properties of trypanosome flagellar motion has not been…