Related papers: Controlling cell motion and microscale flow with p…
We suggest a new spin orientation mechanism for localized electrons: $dynamic~electron~spin~polarization~provided~by~nuclear~spin~fluctuations$. The angular momentum for the electrons is gained from the nuclear spin system via the hyperfine…
Phase separation into compositionally and physically distinct domains is ubiquitous in (non)living matter ranging from alloys and emulsions to biomolecular condensates in cells. The organization of these domains can be controlled, for…
Adhesion-independent migration is a prominent mode of cell motility in confined environments, yet the physical principles that guide such movement remain incompletely understood. We present a phase-field model for simulating the motility of…
Wave-particle interaction is a key process in particle diffusion in collisionless plasmas. We look into the interaction of single plasma waves with individual particles and discuss under which circumstances this is a chaotic process,…
Cell motility is fundamental to many biological processes, and cells exhibit a variety of migration patterns. Many motile cell types follow a universal law that connects their speed and persistency, a property that can originate from the…
We show that Brownian motion is spatially not symmetric for mesoscopic particles embedded in a fluid if the particle is not in thermal equilibrium and its shape is not spherical. In view of applications on molecular motors in biological…
Directional excitation of guidance modes is central to many applications ranging from light harvesting, optical information processing to quantum optical technology. Of paramount interest, especially, the active control of near-field…
Collective cell migration contributes to embryogenesis, wound healing and tumor metastasis. Cell monolayer migration experiments help understanding what determines the movement of cells far from the leading edge. Inhibiting cell…
The nucleation process of polyethylene under quiescent and shear flow conditions are comparatively studied with all_atom molecular dynamical simulations. At both conditions, nucleation are demonstrated to be two_step processes, which,…
Microorganisms, such as bacteria and microalgae, often live in habitats consisting of a liquid phase and a plethora of interfaces. The precise ways in which these motile microbes behave in their confined environment remain unclear. Using…
Two motions of oscillation and vacillating breathing (swing) of a red blood cell have been observed in bounded Poiseuille flows (Phys. Rev. E 85, 16307 (2012)). To understand such motions, we have studied the oscillating motion of a…
Light polarization is a key aspect of modern optics. Current methods for polarization control utilize birefringence and dichroism of anisotropic materials or of arrays of anisotropically shaped nanostructures. Based on collective optical…
Cell migration plays essential roles in development, wound healing, diseases, and in the maintenance of a complex body. Experiments in collective cell migration generally measure quantities such as cell displacement and velocity. The…
Phototaxis of many species of green algae relies upon directional sensitivity of their membrane-bound photoreceptors, which arises from the presence of a pigmented "eyespot" behind them that blocks light passing through the cell body from…
Many cell types display random motility on two-dimensional substrates, but crawl persistently in a single direction when confined in a microchannel or on an adhesive micropattern. Does this imply that the motility mechanism of confined…
The crawling motility of many eukaryotic cells is driven by filamentous actin (F-actin), and regulated by a network of signaling proteins and lipids (including small GTPases). The tangle of positive and negative feedback loops gives rise to…
The hormone auxin is actively transported throughout plants via protein machineries including the dedicated transporter known as PIN. The associated transport is ordered with nearby cells driving auxin flux in similar directions. Here we…
We find a statistical mechanism that can adjust orientations of intracellular filaments to cell geometry in absence of organizing centers. The effect is based on random and isotropic filament (de-)polymerization dynamics and is independent…
It has been long recognized that the spatial polarization of the electronic clouds in molecules, and the spatial arrangements of atoms into chiral molecular structures, play crucial roles in physics, chemistry and biology. However, these…
Topological defects in active polar fluids can organise spontaneous flows and influence macroscopic density patterns. Both of them play, for example, an important role during animal development. Yet the influence of density on active flows…