Modeling a Brownian microswimmer interacting with walls
Orateur : Jean Luc Thiffeault
Professor of Applied Mathematics / Department of Mathematics / University of Wisconsin
Abstract : We consider a simple two-dimensional microswimmer with fixed swimming velocity. The direction of swimming changes according to a Brownian process, and the swimmer is interacting with boundaries. This is a standard model for a simple microswimmer, or a confined wormlike chain polymer. Using natural assumptions about reflection of the swimmer at boundaries, we compute the swimmer’s invariant distribution across a channel consisting of two parallel walls, and the statistics of spreading in the longitudinal direction. This gives us the effective diffusion constant of the swimmer’s large scale motion. When the swimmer is longer than the channel width, it cannot reverse, and we then compute the mean drift velocity of the swimmer. This model offers insight into experiments of scattering of swimmers from boundaries.
Date et lieu : vendredi 5 juillet 2019 à 11h dans la salle de séminaire IRPHE
Voir en ligne : la page personnelle de l’orateur