Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 13: Poster - Glasses / Stat. Phys. Bio. / Networks (joint session DY/BP/CPP/SOE)

DY 13.18: Poster

Tuesday, April 1, 2014, 09:30–12:30, P1

Detention time of a model microswimmer at a plane surface: importance of hydrodynamic interactions — •Konstantin Schaar, Andreas Zöttl, and Holger Stark — TU Berlin, Institut für Theoretische Physik

We discuss the detention time of a microswimmer at a plane no-slip surface taking into account hydrodynamic interactions of the swimmer with the surface and rotational diffusion. To evaluate the detention time, we use the formalism of the mean first-passage time (MFPT) based on an appropriate Smoluchowski equation. The microswimmer operates in ‘squirmer’ mode and can easily be tuned between a ‘pusher’ and a ‘puller’. The hydrodynamic interactions with the surface are described by lubrication theory.

We examine the MFPT and also the distribution of first passage times at the surface and achieve good agreement of our results with direct simulations of the squirmer motion close to the no-slip surface using the method of multi-particle collision dynamics. The detention time of the squirmer is clearly determined by hydrodynamic interactions with the surface. They rotate the squirmer away from the surface and therefore reduce the detention time considerably compared to pure rotational diffusion. We find that pushers have a larger detention time than pullers.