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Diffusion of self-propelled particles in complex media

Author(s)
Yazdi, Shahrzad; Aragones Gomez, Juan Luis; Alexander-Katz, Alfredo
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Abstract
The diffusion of active microscopic organisms in complex environments plays an important role in a wide range of biological phenomena from cell colony growth to single organism transport. Here, we investigate theoretically and computationally the diffusion of a self-propelled particle (the organism) embedded in a complex medium composed of a collection of nonmotile solid particles that mimic soil or other cells. Under such conditions we find that the rotational relaxation time of the swimming direction depends on the swimming velocity and is drastically reduced compared to a pure Newtonian fluid. This leads to a dramatic increase (of several orders of magnitude) in the effective rotational diffusion coefficient of the self-propelled particles, which can lead to “self-trapping” of the active particles in such complex media. An analytical model is put forward that quantitatively captures the computational results. Our work sheds light on the role that the environment plays in the behavior of active systems and can be generalized in a straightforward fashion to understand other synthetic and biological active systems in heterogenous environments.
Date issued
2018-08
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/117336
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Journal
Physical Review Fluids
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Aragones, Juan L. et al. "Diffusion of self-propelled particles in complex media." Physical Review Fluids 3, 8 (August 2018): 083301 © 2018 American Physical Society
Version: Final published version
ISSN
2469-990X
2469-9918

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