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Fluid dynamics of self-propelled microorganisms, from individuals to concentrated populations

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Abstract

Nearly close-packed populations of the swimming bacterium Bacillus subtilis form a collective phase, the “Zooming BioNematic” (ZBN). This state exhibits large-scale orientational coherence, analogous to the molecular alignment of nematic liquid crystals, coupled with remarkable spatial and temporal correlations of velocity and vorticity, as measured by both novel and standard applications of particle imaging velocimetry. The appearance of turbulent dynamics in a system which is nominally in the regime of Stokes flow can be understood by accounting for the local energy input by the swimmers, with a new dimensionless ratio analogous to the Reynolds number. The interaction between organisms and boundaries, and with one another, is modeled by application of the methods of regularized Stokeslets.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by DOE W31-109-ENG38 and NSF PHY 0551742 at the University of Arizona, NSF DMS 0094179 at Tulane, and the Schlumberger Chair Fund in Cambridge. We should like especially to thank Matti M. Laetsch for her contributions to Section 4, David Bentley for help with Fig. 1, and T.J. Pedley for discussions and comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Arizona, 1118 E. 4th St., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Luis H. Cisneros, Christopher Dombrowski, Raymond E. Goldstein & John O. Kessler

  2. Department of Mathematics, Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA

    Ricardo Cortez

  3. Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, UK

    Raymond E. Goldstein

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  1. Luis H. Cisneros
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  2. Ricardo Cortez
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  3. Christopher Dombrowski
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  4. Raymond E. Goldstein
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  5. John O. Kessler
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Correspondence to John O. Kessler.

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Cisneros, L.H., Cortez, R., Dombrowski, C. et al. Fluid dynamics of self-propelled microorganisms, from individuals to concentrated populations. Exp Fluids 43, 737–753 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-007-0387-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-007-0387-y

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