Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Posters: Statistical Physics in Biological Systems
BP 7.17: Poster
Monday, March 14, 2011, 17:15–20:00, P3
Carpets of chiral motors — •Maria Strempel1,2, Sebastian Fürthauer1,2, Stephan W. Grill1,2, and Frank Jülicher1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden — 2Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden
We study the flows and stresses emerging in a two-dimensional arrangement of chirally beating cilia close to a surface using a continuum theory for active polar fluids, including chiral terms. Our theory is generic, as it is based on conservation laws and the symmetries of the system. Considering the force and torque balance in the thin interfacial layer close to the surface, we identify a novel chiral friction term which is proportional to the cilias local rotation rate. This term is related to the difference of the forward and the backward stroke of the tilted cilia. Our generic approach allows us to relate the vorticity of the emerging flow to the local rotation rate of the cilia. Furthermore we confirm that in an arrangement of tilted cilia, the chiral symmetry of the emerging flow is broken. Such symmetry breaking flows are observed in experiments on Kupfers vesicle in the zebrafish and the ventral node of mouse embryos and seem to play an important role in left-right symmetry breaking of the vertebrate body.