Flagellar dynamics of a connected chain of active,polar, Brownian particles |
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Authors: | Raghunath Chelakkot Arvind Gopinath L. Mahadevan Michael F. Hagan |
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Affiliation: | 1.Martin Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA;2.Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Goettingen 037077, Germany;3.School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;4.Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA |
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Abstract: | We show that active, self-propelled particles that are connected together to form a single chain that is anchored at one end can produce the graceful beating motions of flagella. Changing the boundary condition from a clamp to a pivot at the anchor leads to steadily rotating tight coils. Strong noise in the system disrupts the regularity of the oscillations. We use a combination of detailed numerical simulations, mean-field scaling analysis and first passage time theory to characterize the phase diagram as a function of the filament length, passive elasticity, propulsion force and noise. Our study suggests minimal experimental tests for the onset of oscillations in an active polar chain. |
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Keywords: | synthetic flagella active filament follower forces |
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