Abstract
We investigate the emergent dynamical behavior of hydrodynamically coupled microrotors by means of multiparticle collision dynamics (MPC) simulations. The two rotors are confined in a plane and move along circles driven by active forces. Comparing simulations to theoretical results based on linearized hydrodynamics, we demonstrate that time-dependent hydrodynamic interactions lead to synchronization of the rotational motion. Thermal noise implies large fluctuations of the phase-angle difference between the rotors, but synchronization prevails and the ensemble-averaged time dependence of the phase-angle difference agrees well with analytical predictions. Moreover, we demonstrate that compressibility effects lead to longer synchronization times. In addition, the relevance of the inertia terms of the Navier-Stokes equation are discussed, specifically the linear unsteady acceleration term characterized by the oscillatory Reynolds number ReT. We illustrate the continuous breakdown of synchronization with the Reynolds number ReT, in analogy to the continuous breakdown of the scallop theorem with decreasing Reynolds number.
Highlights
Cell motility is a remarkable accomplishment of evolution, being fundamental for a variety of cellular activities
We investigate the emergent dynamical behavior of hydrodynamically coupled microrotors by means of multiparticle collision dynamics (MPC) simulations
Comparing simulations to theoretical results based on linearized hydrodynamics, we demonstrate that time-dependent hydrodynamic interactions lead to synchronization of the rotational motion
Summary
Cell motility is a remarkable accomplishment of evolution, being fundamental for a variety of cellular activities. Any insight into a particular phenomenon has implications for a broader range of physical effects It has been shown[45,47] that even for oscillatory reciprocal forcing of a solid body at arbitrary small Reynolds numbers Re > 0 a net translational motion is obtained. MPC is a particle-based simulation approach, which captures hydrodynamic interactions and thermal uctuations.[51,52,53,54,55,56] It has successfully been applied to a broad range of so matter systems such as colloids, polymers, vesicles and blood cells, and, in particular, microswimmers.[17,18,28,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68].
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