Anomalous Long-Ranged Influence of an Inclusion in Momentum-Conserving Active Fluids

We show that an inclusion placed inside a dilute Stokesian suspension of microswimmers induces power-law number-density modulations and flows. These take a different form depending on whether the inclusion is held fixed by an external force—for example, an optical tweezer—or if it is free. When the...

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Main Authors: Thibaut Arnoulx de Pirey, Yariv Kafri, Sriram Ramaswamy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2024-11-01
Series:Physical Review X
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.041034
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author Thibaut Arnoulx de Pirey
Yariv Kafri
Sriram Ramaswamy
author_facet Thibaut Arnoulx de Pirey
Yariv Kafri
Sriram Ramaswamy
author_sort Thibaut Arnoulx de Pirey
collection DOAJ
description We show that an inclusion placed inside a dilute Stokesian suspension of microswimmers induces power-law number-density modulations and flows. These take a different form depending on whether the inclusion is held fixed by an external force—for example, an optical tweezer—or if it is free. When the inclusion is held in place, the far-field fluid flow is a Stokeslet, while the microswimmer density decays as 1/r^{2+ε}, with r the distance from the inclusion and ε an anomalous exponent which depends on the symmetry of the inclusion and varies continuously as a function of a dimensionless number characterizing the relative amplitudes of the convective and diffusive effects. The angular dependence takes a nontrivial form which depends on the same dimensionless number. When the inclusion is free to move, the far-field fluid flow is a stresslet, and the microswimmer density decays as 1/r^{2} with a simple angular dependence. These long-range modulations mediate long-range interactions between inclusions that we characterize.
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spelling doaj-art-e12f9f487f8149d1b1a5651cc9ab5c752025-08-20T02:12:34ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review X2160-33082024-11-0114404103410.1103/PhysRevX.14.041034Anomalous Long-Ranged Influence of an Inclusion in Momentum-Conserving Active FluidsThibaut Arnoulx de PireyYariv KafriSriram RamaswamyWe show that an inclusion placed inside a dilute Stokesian suspension of microswimmers induces power-law number-density modulations and flows. These take a different form depending on whether the inclusion is held fixed by an external force—for example, an optical tweezer—or if it is free. When the inclusion is held in place, the far-field fluid flow is a Stokeslet, while the microswimmer density decays as 1/r^{2+ε}, with r the distance from the inclusion and ε an anomalous exponent which depends on the symmetry of the inclusion and varies continuously as a function of a dimensionless number characterizing the relative amplitudes of the convective and diffusive effects. The angular dependence takes a nontrivial form which depends on the same dimensionless number. When the inclusion is free to move, the far-field fluid flow is a stresslet, and the microswimmer density decays as 1/r^{2} with a simple angular dependence. These long-range modulations mediate long-range interactions between inclusions that we characterize.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.041034
spellingShingle Thibaut Arnoulx de Pirey
Yariv Kafri
Sriram Ramaswamy
Anomalous Long-Ranged Influence of an Inclusion in Momentum-Conserving Active Fluids
Physical Review X
title Anomalous Long-Ranged Influence of an Inclusion in Momentum-Conserving Active Fluids
title_full Anomalous Long-Ranged Influence of an Inclusion in Momentum-Conserving Active Fluids
title_fullStr Anomalous Long-Ranged Influence of an Inclusion in Momentum-Conserving Active Fluids
title_full_unstemmed Anomalous Long-Ranged Influence of an Inclusion in Momentum-Conserving Active Fluids
title_short Anomalous Long-Ranged Influence of an Inclusion in Momentum-Conserving Active Fluids
title_sort anomalous long ranged influence of an inclusion in momentum conserving active fluids
url http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.041034
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AT yarivkafri anomalouslongrangedinfluenceofaninclusioninmomentumconservingactivefluids
AT sriramramaswamy anomalouslongrangedinfluenceofaninclusioninmomentumconservingactivefluids