Predicting the progress of diffusively limited chemical reactions in the presence of chaotic advection

The effects of chaotic advection and diffusion on fast chemical reactions in two-dimensional fluid flows are investigated using experimentally measured stretching fields and fluorescent monitoring of the local concentration. Flow symmetry, Reynolds number, and mean path length affect the spatial distribution and time dependence of the reaction product. A single parameter \lambda*N, where \lambda is the mean Lyapunov exponent and N is the number of mixing cycles, can be used to predict the time-dependent total product for flows having different dynamical features.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, updated reference

Undulatory swimming in fluids with polymer networks

The motility behavior of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in polymeric solutions of varying concentrations is systematically investigated in experiments using tracking and velocimetry methods. As the polymer concentration is increased, the solution undergoes a transition from the semi-dilute to the concentrated regime, where these rod-like polymers entangle, align, and form networks. Remarkably, we find an enhancement in the nematode's swimming speed of approximately 65% in concentrated solutions compared to semi-dilute solutions. Using velocimetry methods, we show that the undulatory swimming motion of the nematode induces an anisotropic mechanical response in the fluid. This anisotropy, which arises from the fluid micro-structure, is responsible for the observed increase in swimming speed.Comment: Published 1 November 2013 in Europhysics Letter

Induced representations of quantum kinematical algebras

We construct the induced representations of the null-plane quantum Poincar\'e and quantum kappa Galilei algebras in (1+1) dimensions. The induction procedure makes use of the concept of module and is based on the existence of a pair of Hopf algebras with a nondegenerate pairing and dual bases.Comment: 8 pages,LaTeX2e, to be published in the Proceedings of XXIII International Colloquium on Group-Theoretical Methods in Physics, Dubna (Russia), 31.07--05.08, 200

Polymeric filament thinning and breakup in microchannels

The effects of elasticity on filament thinning and breakup are investigated in microchannel cross flow. When a viscous solution is stretched by an external immiscible fluid, a low 100 ppm polymer concentration strongly affects the breakup process, compared to the Newtonian case. Qualitatively, polymeric filaments show much slower evolution, and their morphology features multiple connected drops. Measurements of filament thickness show two main temporal regimes: flow- and capillary-driven. At early times both polymeric and Newtonian fluids are flow-driven, and filament thinning is exponential. At later times, Newtonian filament thinning crosses over to a capillary-driven regime, in which the decay is algebraic. By contrast, the polymeric fluid first crosses over to a second type of flow-driven behavior, in which viscoelastic stresses inside the filament become important and the decay is again exponential. Finally, the polymeric filament becomes capillary-driven at late times with algebraic decay. We show that the exponential flow thinning behavior allows a novel measurement of the extensional viscosities of both Newtonian and polymeric fluids.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Motility of small nematodes in disordered wet granular media

The motility of the worm nematode \textit{Caenorhabditis elegans} is investigated in shallow, wet granular media as a function of particle size dispersity and area density ($\phi$). Surprisingly, we find that the nematode's propulsion speed is enhanced by the presence of particles in a fluid and is nearly independent of area density. The undulation speed, often used to differentiate locomotion gaits, is significantly affected by the bulk material properties of wet mono- and polydisperse granular media for $\phi \geq 0.55$. This difference is characterized by a change in the nematode's waveform from swimming to crawling in dense polydisperse media \textit{only}. This change highlights the organism's adaptability to subtle differences in local structure and response between monodisperse and polydisperse media

Microfluidic rheology of soft colloids above and below jamming

The rheology near jamming of a suspension of soft colloidal spheres is studied using a custom microfluidic rheometer that provides stress versus strain rate over many decades. We find non-Newtonian behavior below the jamming concentration and yield stress behavior above it. The data may be collapsed onto two branches with critical scaling exponents that agree with expectations based on Hertzian contacts and viscous drag. These results support the conclusion that jamming is similar to a critical phase transition, but with interaction-dependent exponents.Comment: 4 pages, experimen

Running and tumbling with E. coli in polymeric solutions

Run-and-tumble motility is widely used by swimming microorganisms including numerous prokaryotic eukaryotic organisms. Here, we experimentally investigate the run-and-tumble dynamics of the bacterium E. coli in polymeric solutions. We find that even small amounts of polymer in solution can drastically change E. coli dynamics: cells tumble less and their velocity increases, leading to an enhancement in cell translational diffusion and a sudden decline in rotational diffusion. We show that suppression of tumbling is due to fluid viscosity while the enhancement in swimming speed is mainly due to fluid elasticity. Visualization of single fluorescently labeled DNA polymers reveals that the flow generated by individual E. coli is sufficiently strong to stretch polymer molecules and induce elastic stresses in the fluid, which in turn can act on the cell in such a way to enhance its transport. Our results show that the transport and spread of chemotactic cells can be independently modified and controlled by the fluid material properties