Related papers: Active particles crossing sharp viscosity gradient…
While the collective motion of active particles has been studied extensively, effective strategies to navigate particle swarms without external guidance remain elusive. We introduce a method to control the trajectories of two-dimensional…
Swimmers and self-propelled particles are physical models for the collective behaviour and motility of a wide variety of living systems, such as bacteria colonies, bird flocks and fish schools. Such artificial active materials are amenable…
We study the transport properties of a system of active particles moving at constant speed in an heterogeneous two-dimensional space. The spatial heterogeneity is modeled by a random distribution of obstacles, which the active particles…
We study the hydrodynamic coupling between particles and solid, rough boundaries characterized by random surface textures. Using the Lorentz reciprocal theorem, we derive analytical expressions for the grand mobility tensor of a spherical…
Chemically active colloids move by creating gradients in the composition of the surrounding solution and by exploiting the differences in their interactions with the various molecular species in solution. If such particles move near…
This work investigates experimentally and numerically the dynamics of rigid particles settling under gravity in a highly viscous fluid. We demonstrate that certain shapes: cones, crescent moons, arrowheads, and open flat rings reorient and…
The survival of many microorganisms, like \textit{Leptospira} or \textit{Spiroplasma} bacteria, can depend on their ability to navigate towards regions of favorable viscosity. While this ability, called viscotaxis, has been observed in…
We study the orientation statistics of spheroidal, axisymmetric microswimmers, with shapes ranging from disks to rods, swimming in chaotic, moderately turbulent flows. Numerical simulations show that rod-like active particles preferentially…
Active particles under soft confinement such as droplets or vesicles present intriguing phenomena, as collective motion emerges alongside the deformation of the environment. A model is employed to systematically investigate droplet…
Friction is central to the motion of active (self-propelled) objects such as bacteria, animals, and robots. While in a viscous fluid friction is described by Stokes's law, objects in contact with other solid bodies are often governed by…
We consider a suspension of active rigid particles (swimmers) in a steady Stokes flow, where particles are distributed according to a stationary ergodic random process, and we study its homogenization in the macroscopic limit. A key point…
The unicellular microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is widely recognized as a premier model living microswimmer for physicists and biophysicists. However, the interest around C. reinhardtii goes beyond its swimming capabilities. In fact,…
The movement of motor particles consisting of one or several molecular motors bound to a cargo particle is studied theoretically. The particles move on patterns of immobilized filaments. Several patterns are described for which the motor…
Microswimmers display an intriguing ability to navigate through fluids with spatially varying viscosity, a behavior known as viscotaxis, which plays a crucial role in guiding their motion. In this study, we reveal that the orientation…
To explore and react to their environment, living micro-swimmers have developed sophisticated strategies for locomotion - in particular, motility with multiple gaits. To understand the physical principles associated with such a behavioural…
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…
Systems of active particles can show a large variety of collective behavior. In theory, two aspects determine the collective behavior: the model at the particle level and the parameter regime. While many studies consider a single model and…
Viscosity is a fundamental property of liquids and determines the diffusivity of suspended particles. A gradient in viscosity leads to a gradient in diffusivity, yet it is unknown whether such a gradient can lead to directed transport of…
Janus particles self-propel by generating local tangential concentration gradients along their surface. These gradients are present in a thin layer whose thickness is small compared to the particle size. Chemical asymmetry along the surface…
Direct numerical simulations are used to investigate the individual dynamics of large spherical particles suspended in a developed homogeneous turbulent flow. A definition of the direction of the particle motion relative to the surrounding…