Work

Nutrient Transport Driven by Microbial Active Carpets

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: We demonstrate that active carpets of bacteria or self-propelled colloids generate coherent flows towards the substrate, and propose that these currents provide efficient pathways to replenish nutrients that feed back into activity. A full theory is developed in terms of gradients in the active matter density and velocity, and applied to bacterial turbulence, topological defects and clustering. Currents with complex spatiotemporal patterns are obtained, which are tunable through confinement. Our findings show that diversity in carpet architecture is essential to maintain biofunctionality.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.121.248101

Authors: Arnold J. T. M. Mathijssen, Francisca Guzmán-Lastra, Andreas Kaiser, Hartmut Löwen

Institutions: Stanford University, Universidad Mayor, University of Chile, Pennsylvania State University, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Language: English

Topic: Micro and Nano Robotics

Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Human Frontier Science Program, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Ministerio de Economía, Fomento y Turismo, Chile

Awards: G1019462689, G5926577229