Work

Stability of co-annular active and passive confined fluids

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We investigate the stability of two configurations: a passive viscous Newtonian droplet immersed in an active nematic liquid crystal, and an active nematic droplet surrounded by a passive layer, both under circular confinement. Our results reveal how capillary, active, elastic, and viscous stresses interact to govern droplet dynamics. These findings may inform our understanding of diverse biological systems featuring interfaces between active and passive fluids, from droplets in bacterial suspensions to subcellular compartments within the cytoplasm and cell nucleus.

Source: Physical Review Fluids

DOI: 10.1103/m5ck-v2q3

Authors: Tanumoy Dhar, Michael J. Shelley, David Saintillan

Institutions: University of California San Diego, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Flatiron Institute, New York University

Language: English

Topic: Micro and Nano Robotics

Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Science Foundation

Award: Collaborative Research: DMS/NIGMS2: Discovering the Principles of Active Self-Organization in the Differentiating Genome Using Multi-Scale Modeling and In-Vivo Experiments