2023/12/05 by Albane Théry, Théry, Albane, Alexander Chamolly +3 · 1 citation
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Micro and Nano Robotics #Pickering emulsions and particle stabilization #Slime Mold and Myxomycetes Research #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2312.03158
openalex publication_date 2023/12/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Biased locomotion is a common feature of microorganisms, but little is known about its impact on self-organisation. Inspired by recent experiments showing a transition to large-scale flows, we study theoretically the dynamics of magnetotactic bacteria confined to a drop. We reveal two symmetry-breaking mechanisms (one local chiral and one global achiral) leading to self-organisation into global vortices and a net torque exerted on the drop. The collective behaviour is ultimately controlled by the swimmers' microscopic chirality and, strikingly, the system can exhibit oscillations and memory-like features.