2016/08/31 by Enkeleida Lushi, Vasily Kantsler, Raymond E. Goldstein
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Acoustics #Asymmetry #Characterization and Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles #Classical mechanics #Dynamics (music) #Geometry #Image (mathematics) #Micro and Nano Robotics #Microfluidic and Bio-sensing Technologies #Noise (video) #Optics #Particle physics #Physics #Scattering #Surface (topology) #cond-mat.soft #physics.bio-ph #physics.flu-dyn
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.96.023102
published as Phys. Rev. E 96, 023102 (2017) · Open Access article and supplementary movies at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.96.023102
openalex publication_date 2017/08/10 · arxiv created 2017/08/15 · arxiv updated 2017/08/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We use a three-bead-spring model to investigate the dynamics of biflagellate microswimmers near a surface. While the primary dynamics and scattering are governed by geometric-dependent direct contact, the fluid flows generated by the swimmer locomotion are important in orienting it toward or away from the surface. Flagellar noise and in particular cell spinning about the main axis help a surface-trapped swimmer escape, whereas the time a swimmer spends at the surface depends on the incident angle. The dynamics results from a nuanced interplay of direct collisions, hydrodynamics, noise, and the swimmer geometry. We show that to correctly capture the dynamics of a biflagellate swimmer, minimal models need to resolve the shape asymmetry.