Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 7: Poster I

BP 7.10: Poster

Monday, March 23, 2009, 17:45–20:00, P3

Active chiral gels — •Sebastian Fürthauer, Stephan Grill, and Frank Jülicher — Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nöthnitzer Str. 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany

Many different physical systems display intriguing chiral phenomena, such as the handedness of biomolecules. Here we study consequences of chirality in the actomyosin cortical layer that underlies the membrane of eukaryotic cells. The theory we develop is an extension of the formalism of active polar gels to an active chiral material. We obtain the most general set of linear equations describing the large length and long time-scale dynamics of the gel, by using only conservation laws and symmetries of the system. Finally, we discuss chiral flow and polarity profiles that can emerge spontaneously in such systems.