A model of hydrodynamic interaction between swimming bacteria.
We study the dynamics and interaction of two swimming bacteria, modeled by self-propelled dumbbell-type structures. We focus on alignment dynamics of a coplanar pair of elongated swimmers, which propel themselves either by 'pushing' or 'pulling' both in three- and quasi-two-dimensional geometries of space. We derive asymptotic expressions for the dynamics of the pair, which complemented by numerical experiments, indicate that the tendency of bacteria to swim in or swim off depends strongly on the position of the propulsion force. In particular, we observe that positioning of the effective propulsion force inside the dumbbell results in qualitative agreement with the dynamics observed in experiments, such as mutual alignment of converging bacteria.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1000201
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/MSD/JA-68494; TRN: US201101%%24
- Journal Information:
- Bull. Math. Biology, Vol. 72, Issue 2010
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
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