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Yadav RS, Sharma S, Metzler R, Chakrabarti R. A passive star polymer in a dense active bath: insights from computer simulations. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:3910-3922. [PMID: 38700098 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00144c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
Using computer simulations in two dimensions (2D), we explore the structure and dynamics of a star polymer with three arms made of passive monomers immersed in a bath of active Brownian particles (ABPs). We analyze the conformational and dynamical changes of the polymer as a function of activity and packing fraction. We also study the process of motility induced phase separation (MIPS) in the presence of a star polymer, which acts as a mobile nucleation center. The presence of the polymer increases the growth rate of the clusters in comparison to a bath without the polymer. In particular, for low packing fraction, both nucleation and cluster growth are affected by the inclusion of the star polymer. Clusters grow in the vicinity of the star polymer, resulting in the star polymer experiencing a caged motion similar to a tagged ABP in the dense phase. Due to the topological constraints of the star polymers and clustering nearby, the conformational changes of the star polymer lead to interesting observations. Inter alia, we observe the shrinking of the arm with increasing activity along with a short-lived hairpin structure of one arm formed. We also see the transient pairing of two arms of the star polymer, while the third is largely separated at high activity. We hope our findings will help in understanding the behavior of active-passive mixtures, including biopolymers of complex topology in dense active suspensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramanand Singh Yadav
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
| | - Sanaa Sharma
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
| | - Ralf Metzler
- Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, Germany.
- Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Rajarshi Chakrabarti
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
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Jiang H, Hou Z. Nonequilibrium Dynamics of Chemically Active Particles. CHINESE J CHEM 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/cjoc.202100543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Huijun Jiang
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale & Department of Chemical Physics, iChEM, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 China
| | - Zhonghuai Hou
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale & Department of Chemical Physics, iChEM, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 China
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Peled S, Ryan SD, Heidenreich S, Bär M, Ariel G, Be'er A. Heterogeneous bacterial swarms with mixed lengths. Phys Rev E 2021; 103:032413. [PMID: 33862716 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.103.032413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Heterogeneous systems of active matter exhibit a range of complex emergent dynamical patterns. In particular, it is difficult to predict the properties of the mixed system based on its constituents. These considerations are particularly significant for understanding realistic bacterial swarms, which typically develop heterogeneities even when grown from a single cell. Here, mixed swarms of cells with different aspect ratios are studied both experimentally and in simulations. In contrast with previous theory, there is no macroscopic phase segregation. However, locally, long cells act as nucleation cites, around which aggregates of short, rapidly moving cells can form, resulting in enhanced swarming speeds. On the other hand, high fractions of long cells form a bottleneck for efficient swarming. Our results suggest a physical advantage for the spontaneous heterogeneity of bacterial swarm populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shlomit Peled
- Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
| | - Shawn D Ryan
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, USA.,Center for Applied Data Analysis and Modeling, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, USA
| | - Sebastian Heidenreich
- Department of Mathematical Modelling and Data Analysis, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig und Berlin, Abbestrasse 2-12, D-10587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Markus Bär
- Department of Mathematical Modelling and Data Analysis, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig und Berlin, Abbestrasse 2-12, D-10587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gil Ariel
- Department of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Avraham Be'er
- Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.,Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev 84105, Beer-Sheva, Israel
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