Simultaneous Phase Separation and Pattern Formation in Chiral Active Mixtures

Chiral active particles, or self-propelled circle swimmers, from sperm cells to asymmetric Janus colloids, form a rich set of patterns, which are different from those seen in linear swimmers. Such patterns have mainly been explored for identical circle swimmers, while real-world circle swimmers, typically possess a frequency distribution. Here we show that even the simplest mixture of (velocity-aligning) circle swimmers with two different frequencies, hosts a complex world of superstructures: The most remarkable example comprises a microflock pattern, formed in one species, while the other species phase separates and forms a macrocluster, coexisting with a gas phase. Here, one species microphase-separates and selects a characteristic length scale, whereas the other one macrophase separates and selects a density. A second notable example, here occurring in an isotropic system, are patterns comprising two different characteristic length scales, which are controllable via frequency and swimming speed of the individual particles

Generalized Scallop Theorem for Linear Swimmers

In this article, we are interested in studying locomotion strategies for a class of shape-changing bodies swimming in a fluid. This class consists of swimmers subject to a particular linear dynamics, which includes the two most investigated limit models in the literature: swimmers at low and high Reynolds numbers. Our first contribution is to prove that although for these two models the locomotion is based on very different physical principles, their dynamics are similar under symmetry assumptions. Our second contribution is to derive for such swimmers a purely geometric criterion allowing to determine wether a given sequence of shape-changes can result in locomotion. This criterion can be seen as a generalization of Purcell's scallop theorem (stated in Purcell (1977)) in the sense that it deals with a larger class of swimmers and address the complete locomotion strategy, extending the usual formulation in which only periodic strokes for low Reynolds swimmers are considered.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Declines in swimming performance with age: a longitudinal study of Masters swimming champions.

IntroductionBecause of its many participants and thorough records, competitive Masters swimming offers a rich data source for determining the rate of physical decline associated with aging in physically fit individuals. The decline in performance among national champion swimmers, both men and women and in short and long swims, is linear, at about 0.6% per year up to age 70-75, after which it accelerates in quadratic fashion. These conclusions are based primarily on cross-sectional studies, and little is known about individual performance declines with aging. Herein we present performance profiles of 19 male and 26 female national and international champion Masters swimmers, ages 25 to 96 years, participating in competitions for an average of 23 years.Methods and resultsSwimmers' longitudinal data were compared with the fastest times of world record holders across ages 35-100 years by two regression methods. Neither method proved to accurately model this data set: compared with the rates of decline estimated from the world record data, which represent the best recorded times at given ages, there was bias toward shallower rates of performance decline in the longitudinal data, likely owing to a practice effect in some swimmers as they began their Masters programs. In swimmers' later years, once maximum performance had been achieved, individual profiles followed the decline represented in the world records, and a few swimmers became the world record holders. In some instances, the individual profiles indicated performance better than the world record data; these swimmers achieved their times after the world record data were collected in 2005-2006.ConclusionDeclining physiological functional capacity occurs with advancing age, and this is reflected in the performance decrements of aging Masters swimmers. Individual swimmers show different performance trajectories with aging, declines being mitigated by practice, which improves both physiological capacity and swimming technique, particularly in the early years of participation. The longitudinal data of this study indicate that individuals can participate in high-intensity swimming over several decades, competitively improving over those decades until, in some instances, they become world record holders for their age groups

Physics of Rheologically-Enhanced Propulsion: Different Strokes in Generalized Stokes

Shear-thinning is an important rheological property of many biological fluids, such as mucus, whereby the apparent viscosity of the fluid decreases with shear. Certain microscopic swimmers have been shown to progress more rapidly through shear-thinning fluids, but is this behavior generic to all microscopic swimmers, and what are the physics through which shear-thinning rheology affects a swimmer's propulsion? We examine swimmers employing prescribed stroke kinematics in two-dimensional, inertialess Carreau fluid: shear-thinning "Generalized Stokes" flow. Swimmers are modeled, using the method of femlets, by a set of immersed, regularized forces. The equations governing the fluid dynamics are then discretized over a body-fitted mesh and solved with the finite element method. We analyze the locomotion of three distinct classes of microswimmer: (1) conceptual swimmers comprising sliding spheres employing both one- and two-dimensional strokes, (2) slip-velocity envelope models of ciliates commonly referred to as "squirmers" and (3) monoflagellate pushers, such as sperm. We find that morphologically identical swimmers with different strokes may swim either faster or slower in shear-thinning fluids than in Newtonian fluids. We explain this kinematic sensitivity by considering differences in the viscosity of the fluid surrounding propulsive and payload elements of the swimmer, and using this insight suggest two reciprocal sliding sphere swimmers which violate Purcell's Scallop theorem in shear-thinning fluids. We also show that an increased flow decay rate arising from shear-thinning rheology is associated with a reduction in the swimming speed of slip-velocity squirmers. For sperm-like swimmers, a gradient of thick to thin fluid along the flagellum alters the force it exerts upon the fluid, flattening trajectories and increasing instantaneous swimming speed.Comment: 22 pages, 28 figure

Accumulation of motile elongated micro-organisms in turbulence

We study the effect of turbulence on marine life by performing numerical simulations of motile microorganisms, modelled as prolate spheroids, in isotropic homogeneous turbulence. We show that the clustering and patchiness observed in laminar flows, linear shear and vortex flows, are significantly reduced in a three-dimensional turbulent flow mainly because of the complex topology; elongated micro-orgamisms show some level of clustering in the case of swimmers without any preferential alignment whereas spherical swimmers remain uniformly distributed. Micro-organisms with one preferential swimming direction (e.g. gyrotaxis) still show significant clustering if spherical in shape, whereas prolate swimmers remain more uniformly distributed. Due to their large sensitivity to the local shear, these elongated swimmers react slower to the action of vorticity and gravity and therefore do not have time to accumulate in a turbulent flow. These results show how purely hydrodynamic effects can alter the ecology of microorganisms that can vary their shape and their preferential orientation.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure