Related papers: Geometric control of bacterial surface accumulatio…
Self-organized dynamic patterns in dense active matter are striking manifestations of non-equilibrium physics. A prominent example is the macroscopic elliptical motion observed in quasi-2D bacterial suspensions, which has lacked a physical…
On a finite-volume hyperbolic $3$-manifold, we establish an upper bound on the area of closed embedded surfaces with constant mean curvature at least one, depending on the mean curvature and the genus bounds. This area bound implies…
Bacteria often form surface-bound communities, embedded in a self-produced extracellular matrix, called biofilms. Quantitative studies of their growth have typically focused on unconfined expansion above solid or semi-solid surfaces,…
Unravelling the physical mechanisms behind the organisation of lipid domains is a central goal in cell biology and membrane biophysics. Previous studies on cells and model lipid bilayers featuring phase-separated domains found an intricate…
In this letter we propose a kinematic model to show how collisions with a surface and rotational Brownian motion give rise to the accumulation of micro-swimmers near a surface. In this model, an elongated microswimmer invariably travels…
Bacterial colonies are a well-known example of living active matter, exhibiting collective behaviors such as nematic alignment and collective motion that play an important role in the spread of microbial infections. While the underlying…
The adhesion of a lipid membrane vesicle to a fixed substrate is examined from a geometrical point of view. This vesicle is described by the Helfrich hamiltonian quadratic in mean curvature; it interacts by contact with the substrate, with…
Conjugation accelerates bacterial evolution by enabling bacteria to acquire genes horizontally from their neighbors. Plasmid donors must physically encounter and connect with recipients to allow plasmid transfer, and different environments…
Interaction between active materials and the boundaries of geometrical confinement is key to many emergent phenomena in active systems. For living active matter consisting of animal cells or motile bacteria, the confinement boundary is…
Bacteria invade surfaces by forming dense colonies encased in a polymer matrix. Successful settlement of founder bacteria, early microcolony development and later macroscopic spreading of these biofilms on surfaces rely on complex physical…
Unlike an equilibrium gas, the distribution of active particles can be very sensitive to what happens at the boundaries of their container. Experiments and simulations have previously highlighted the possibility of exploiting this behavior…
Controlling segregation is both a practical and a theoretical challenge. In this Letter we demonstrate a manner in which rotation-induced segregation may be controlled by altering the geometry of the rotating containers in which granular…
It has recently been reported that bacteria, such as E.coli and P. putida, perform distinct modes of motion when placed in porous media as compared to dilute regions or free space. This has led us to suggest an efficient strategy for active…
Microorganisms are ubiquitous in nature and technology. They inhabit diverse environments ranging from small river tributaries and lakes to oceans, as well as wastewater treatment plants and food manufacturing. In many of these…
Insects like dragonflies and cicadas possess nanoprotusions on their wings that rupture bacterial membranes upon contact, inspiring synthetic antibacterial surfaces mimicking this phenomenon. Designing such biomimetic surfaces requires…
Cellular membranes exhibit a large variety of shapes, strongly coupled to their function. Many biological processes involve dynamic reshaping of membranes, usually mediated by proteins. This interaction works both ways: while proteins…
The evaporation of a tiny amount of water on the solid surface with different wettability has been studied by molecular dynamics simulations. We found that, as the surface changed from hydrophobicity to hydrophility, the evaporation speed…
Recent studies have shown that packings of cells, both eukaryotic cellular tissues and growing or swarming bacterial colonies, can often be understood as active nematic fluids. A key property of volume-conserving active nematic model…
The degradation of the hemi-wicking property of superhydrophilic high-energy surfaces due to contaminant adsorption from the ambient atmosphere is well documented. This degradation compromises the performance of such surfaces, thus…
Growing living cultures of Escherichia coli bacteria were investigated using real-time in situ rheology and rheo-imaging measurements. In the early stages of growth (lag phase), and when subjected to a constant stationary shear, the…