Related papers: Phoretic flow induced by asymmetric confinement
We consider directed semiflexible polymers embedded in a fluctuating surface which is governed by either surface tension or bending rigidity. The attractive interactions induced by the fluctuations of the surface reduce the rigidity of the…
Biological and biomimetic membranes often contain aggregates of embedded or adsorbed macromolecules. In this article, the indirect interactions of cylindrical objects adhering to a planar membrane are considered theoretically. The adhesion…
We consider quantum particle or Gaussian polymer confinement between two surfaces and in cylinders with sinusoidal undulations. In terms of the variational method, we show that the quantum mechanical wave equations have lower ground state…
Using the Fundamental-Measure Density Functional Theory, we have studied theoretically the phase behavior of extremely confined mixtures of parallel hard squares in slit geometry. The pore width is chosen such that configurations consisting…
Chemical gardens are mineral aggregates that grow in three dimensions with plant-like forms and share properties with self-assembled structures like nano-scale tubes, brinicles or chimneys at hydrothermal vents. The analysis of their shapes…
We study the surface diffusion flow acting on a class of general (non--axisymmetric) perturbations of cylinders $\mathcal{C}_r$ in ${\rm I \! R}^3$. Using tools from parabolic theory on uniformly regular manifolds, and maximal regularity,…
Steady states reached in a coherently pumped exciton-polariton superfluid are investigated. As the pump parameter is changed, the translational symmetry of the uniform system is spontaneously broken, and various steady patterns of quantized…
We investigate the response of an excitable medium to a localized perturbation in the presence of a two-dimensional smooth chaotic flow. Two distinct types of flows are numerically considered: open and closed. For both of them three…
Viscous flows within an elastic structure apply stress on the solid-liquid interface. The stress-field created by the viscous flow can be utilized to counter stress created by external forces and thus may be applied as a tool for delaying…
Important cellular processes, such as cell motility and cell division, are coordinated by cell polarity, which is determined by the non-uniform distribution of certain proteins. Such protein patterns form via an interplay of protein…
In an incompressible flow, fluid density remains invariant along fluid element trajectories. This implies that the spatial distribution of non-interacting noninertial particles in such flows cannot develop density inhomogeneities beyond…
The emergence of structure through aggregation is a fascinating topic and of both fundamental and practical interest. Here we demonstrate that self-generated solvent flow can be used to generate long-range attractions on the colloidal…
Polymer solutions exhibit anomalous flow thickening -- marked by an abrupt increase in the macroscopic flow resistance -- above a threshold flow rate in a porous medium, but not in bulk solution. This phenomenon has evaded a mechanistic…
Diffusion rates through a membrane can be asymmetric, if the diffusing particles are spatially extended and the pores in the membrane have asymmetric structure. This phenomenon is demonstrated here via a deterministic simulation of a…
Gradients in temperature, concentration or electrostatic potential cannot exert forces on a bulk fluid; they can, however, exert forces on a fluid in a microscopic boundary layer surrounding a (nano)colloidal solute, resulting in so-called…
Active fluid droplets surrounded by oil can spontaneously develop circulatory flows. However, the dynamics of the surrounding oil and their influence on the active fluid remain poorly understood. To investigate interactions between the…
We have shown [J.\ Fluid Mech.\ {\bf 592}, 447 (2007)] that swapping (reversing) trajectories in confined suspension flows prevent collisions between particles approaching each other in adjacent streamlines. Here we demonstrate that by…
Laminar-turbulent pattern formation is a distinctive feature of the intermittency regime in subcritical plane shear flows. By performing extensive numerical simulations of the plane channel flow, we show that the pattern emerges from a…
Self-diffusiophoretic particles exploit local concentration gradients of a solute species in order to self-propel at the micron scale. While an isolated chemically- and geometrically-isotropic particle cannot swim, we show that it can…
Fluid flows around an obstacle generate vortices which, in turn, generate lift forces on the obstacle. Therefore, even in a perfectly symmetric framework equilibrium positions may be asymmetric. We show that this is not the case for a…