132 research outputs found
Generic flow profiles induced by a beating cilium
We describe a multipole expansion for the low Reynolds number fluid flows
generated by a localized source embedded in a plane with a no-slip boundary
condition. It contains 3 independent terms that fall quadratically with the
distance and 6 terms that fall with the third power. Within this framework we
discuss the flows induced by a beating cilium described in different ways: a
small particle circling on an elliptical trajectory, a thin rod and a general
ciliary beating pattern. We identify the flow modes present based on the
symmetry properties of the ciliary beat.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, to appear in EPJ
Hydrodynamic flow patterns and synchronization of beating cilia
We calculate the hydrodynamic flow field generated far from a cilium which is
attached to a surface and beats periodically. In the case of two beating cilia,
hydrodynamic interactions can lead to synchronization of the cilia, which are
nonlinear oscillators. We present a state diagram where synchronized states
occur as a function of distance of cilia and the relative orientation of their
beat. Synchronized states occur with different relative phases. In addition,
asynchronous solutions exist. Our work could be relevant for the synchronized
motion of cilia generating hydrodynamic flows on the surface of cells.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, v2: minor correction
Force-Velocity Relations of a Two-State Crossbridge Model for Molecular Motors
We discuss the force-velocity relations obtained in a two-state crossbridge
model for molecular motors. They can be calculated analytically in two limiting
cases: for a large number and for one pair of motors. The effect of the
strain-dependent detachment rate on the motor characteristics is studied. It
can lead to linear, myosin-like, kinesin-like and anomalous curves. In
particular, we specify the conditions under which oscillatory behavior may be
found.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX; thoroughly revised version; also
available at http://www.physik.tu-muenchen.de/~frey
Tug-of-war in motility assay experiments
The dynamics of two groups of molecular motors pulling in opposite directions
on a rigid filament is studied theoretically. To this end we first consider the
behavior of one set of motors pulling in a single direction against an external
force using a new mean-field approach. Based on these results we analyze a
similar setup with two sets of motors pulling in opposite directions in a
tug-of-war in the presence of an external force. In both cases we find that the
interplay of fluid friction and protein friction leads to a complex phase
diagram where the force-velocity relations can exhibit regions of bistability
and spontaneous symmetry breaking. Finally, motivated by recent work, we turn
to the case of motility assay experiments where motors bound to a surface push
on a bundle of filaments. We find that, depending on the absence or the
presence of a bistability in the force-velocity curve at zero force, the bundle
exhibits anomalous or biased diffusion on long-time and large-length scales
Anomalous thickness dependence of the Hall effect in ultrathin Pb layers on Si(111)
The magnetoconductive properties of ultrathin Pb films deposited on Si(111)
are measured and compared with density-functional electronic band-structure
calculations on two-dimensional, free-standing, 1 to 8 monolayers thick Pb(111)
slabs. A description with free-standing slabs is possible because it turned out
that the Hall coefficient is independent of the substrate and of the
crystalline order in the film. We show that the oscillations in sign of the
Hall coefficient observed as a function of film thickness can be explained
directly from the thickness dependent variations of the electronic
bandstructure at the Fermi energy.Comment: 4 pages incl. 3 figures, RevTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Synchronization of active mechanical oscillators by an inertial load
Motivated by the operation of myogenic (self-oscillatory) insect flight
muscle, we study a model consisting of a large number of identical oscillatory
contractile elements joined in a chain, whose end is attached to a damped
mass-spring oscillator. When the inertial load is small, the serial coupling
favors an antisynchronous state in which the extension of one oscillator is
compensated by the contraction of another, in order to preserve the total
length. However, a sufficiently massive load can sychronize the oscillators and
can even induce oscillation in situations where isolated elements would be
stable. The system has a complex phase diagram displaying quiescent,
synchronous and antisynchrononous phases, as well as an unsual asynchronous
phase in which the total length of the chain oscillates at a different
frequency from the individual active elements.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, To appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Phase Transition in the ABC Model
Recent studies have shown that one-dimensional driven systems can exhibit
phase separation even if the dynamics is governed by local rules. The ABC
model, which comprises three particle species that diffuse asymmetrically
around a ring, shows anomalous coarsening into a phase separated steady state.
In the limiting case in which the dynamics is symmetric and the parameter
describing the asymmetry tends to one, no phase separation occurs and the
steady state of the system is disordered. In the present work we consider the
weak asymmetry regime where is the system size and
study how the disordered state is approached. In the case of equal densities,
we find that the system exhibits a second order phase transition at some
nonzero .
The value of and the optimal profiles can be
obtained by writing the exact large deviation functional. For nonequal
densities, we write down mean field equations and analyze some of their
predictions.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure
Exact multipoint and multitime correlation functions of a one-dimensional model of adsorption and evaporation of dimers
In this work, we provide a method which allows to compute exactly the
multipoint and multi-time correlation functions of a one-dimensional stochastic
model of dimer adsorption-evaporation with random (uncorrelated) initial
states.
In particular explicit expressions of the two-point
noninstantaneous/instantaneous correlation functions are obtained. The
long-time behavior of these expressions is discussed in details and in various
physical regimes.Comment: 6 pages, no figur
Structure Factors and Their Distributions in Driven Two-Species Models
We study spatial correlations and structure factors in a three-state
stochastic lattice gas, consisting of holes and two oppositely ``charged''
species of particles, subject to an ``electric'' field at zero total charge.
The dynamics consists of two nearest-neighbor exchange processes, occuring on
different times scales, namely, particle-hole and particle-particle exchanges.
Using both, Langevin equations and Monte Carlo simulations, we study the
steady-state structure factors and correlation functions in the disordered
phase, where density profiles are homogeneous. In contrast to equilibrium
systems, the average structure factors here show a discontinuity singularity at
the origin. The associated spatial correlation functions exhibit intricate
crossovers between exponential decays and power laws of different kinds. The
full probability distributions of the structure factors are universal
asymmetric exponential distributions.Comment: RevTex, 18 pages, 4 postscript figures included, mistaken half-empty
page correcte
Self-tuning to the Hopf bifurcation in fluctuating systems
The problem of self-tuning a system to the Hopf bifurcation in the presence
of noise and periodic external forcing is discussed. We find that the response
of the system has a non-monotonic dependence on the noise-strength, and
displays an amplified response which is more pronounced for weaker signals. The
observed effect is to be distinguished from stochastic resonance. For the
feedback we have studied, the unforced self-tuned Hopf oscillator in the
presence of fluctuations exhibits sharp peaks in its spectrum. The implications
of our general results are briefly discussed in the context of sound detection
by the inner ear.Comment: 37 pages, 7 figures (8 figure files
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