Dresden 2017 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 14: Physics of Physarum polycephalum and Other Slime Molds - Joint Focus Session (BP/DY) organized by Hans-Günther Döbereiner

BP 14.1: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 21, 2017, 09:30–10:00, SCH A251

Laminar mixing in tubular networks of plasmodial slime moulds — •Marcus Hauser — Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Institut für Biometrie und Medizinische Informatik, Magdeburg, Germany

The plasmodium of the unicellular slime mould Physarum polycephalum forms an extended, at times giant, vascular network which is used for transportation of protoplasm through the cell. The transport is driven by pressure gradients generated by peristaltic pumping, leading to a flow that reverses its direction periodically. Although the flow in the veins of P. polycephalum is always parabolic, protoplasm and particles suspended in it are effectively and rapidly distributed within the cell. To elucidate how an effective mixing is achieved in such a microfluidic system with Womersley flow (at low Womersley and Reynolds numbers), we performed micro-PIV experiments and advect virtual tracers in the determined time-dependent flow fields. Flow splitting and flow reversals at branchings of veins, as well as small fluctuations in the flow patterns at the branchings of veins play key roles in providing for an efficient mixing of protoplasm in the cell.