Diffusion of active particles in a complex environment strongly depends on boundary conditions

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• Samuel Bell (University of Cambridge)
• Thursday 31 May 2018, 13:00-14:00
• MR11, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Anne Herrmann.

Upon collision with a circular obstacle, pusher-like active particles (e.g. bacteria, Janus particles) temporarily glide along the surface of the obstacle. They then leave the obstacle approximately at a tangent to the surface. Microfluidic experiments have shown that bacteria appear to be guided by regular structures of such obstacles. Here we introduce a theoretical framework based on simulations of active (Brownian) particles in a hexagonal lattice. We show that the observed guiding effect could be a consequence of mere geometric constraints as opposed to more complicated long-range hydrodynamic interactions, and that for certain parameter ranges, large diffusion coefficients approaching the free space case are possible even at high obstacle density. We contrast this with the Lorentz gas, where particles undergo billiard ball-like collisions.

This talk is part of the DAMTP BioLunch series.

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