Berlin 2005 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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AKB: Biologische Physik
AKB 100: Poster Session I
AKB 100.55: Poster
Samstag, 5. März 2005, 16:45–18:45, Poster TU D
Self-organized vortical array of hydrodynamically entrained sperm cells — •Ingmar Riedel1, Karsten Kruse2, and Jonathon Howard1 — 1Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstr. 108, D-01307 Dresden — 2Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems, Noethnitzer Str. 38, D-01187 Dresden
The emergence of spatiotemporal patterns is of great interest in many scientific disciplines. Examples range from physical self-assembly, oscillating chemical reactions, complex cellular processes and even social interactions. The maintenance of order within and among biological cells usually requires a permanent flux of energy in which case it is said to be dynamically self-organized. Here we report on a new dynamically self-organized pattern that is ordered at two different levels. First, hydro-dynamically entrained sperm cells form vortices. And second, these vortices form a hexagonal array. The dynamics of a vortex resembles a quantized rotating wave. The vortical array emerges above a critical sperm density associated with a dynamic instability. Supported by numerical simulation we suggest a mechanism for the appearance of the array. This array represents an active gel with a chiral component.