Dresden 2017 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 17: Microswimmers II (Joint Session DY/BP)

BP 17.3: Talk

Tuesday, March 21, 2017, 15:00–15:15, HÜL 186

Collective dynamics of active emulsions under light sheet microscopy — •Babak Vajdi Hokmabad, Carsten Krüger, and Corinna Maass — MPI for Dynamics and Self Organization, Göttingen

Liquid crystal droplets exhibit Marangoni-flow-induced self-propulsion in an aqueous surfactant solution well above the critical micelle concentration. We can mass produce identical droplets with biomimetic properties, rendering these artificial swimmers promising experimental models to investigate the collective dynamics of biological microswimmers. We have previously shown that dimensional confinement plays a crucial role in the collective behavior of such active emulsions.

We study the collective dynamics of dense droplets ensembles in various conditions of number density, swimmer speed and buoyancy, resulting in effects like clustering and caging, using a custom built light sheet fluorescence microscope. A macroscopic sample volume, containing several hundred swimmers, is scanned via a system of a synchronized thin laser sheet and selective plane microscope, and individual trajectories for multiple swimmers can be recorded over long time scales.