Optimal hydrodynamic synchronization of colloidal rotors

Kotar, J., Debono, L., Bruot, N., Box, S., Phillips, D., Simpson, S., Hanna, S. and Cicuta, P. (2013) Optimal hydrodynamic synchronization of colloidal rotors. Physical Review Letters, 111(22), 228103. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.228103)

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Abstract

Synchronization of driven oscillators is a key aspect of flow generation in artificial and biological filaments such as cilia. Previous theoretical and numerical studies have considered the “rotor” model of a cilium in which the filament is coarse grained into a colloidal sphere driven with a given force law along a predefined trajectory to represent the oscillating motion of the cilium. These studies pointed to the importance of two factors in the emergence of synchronization: the modulation of the driving force around the orbit and the deformability of the trajectory. In this work it is shown via experiments, supported by numerical simulations and theory, that both of these factors are important and can be combined to produce strong synchronization (within a few cycles) even in the presence of thermal noise.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Phillips, Dr David
Authors: Kotar, J., Debono, L., Bruot, N., Box, S., Phillips, D., Simpson, S., Hanna, S., and Cicuta, P.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering
Journal Name:Physical Review Letters
Publisher:American Physical Society
ISSN:0031-9007
ISSN (Online):1079-7114
Published Online:27 November 2013

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