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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 11: Active Fluids and Microswimmers (joint session DY/BP/CPP)

CPP 11.6: Talk

Monday, March 18, 2024, 16:30–16:45, BH-N 243

Pattern formation in non-Newtonian active suspensions — •Henning Reinken and Andreas M. Menzel — Institut für Physik, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany

Controlling spatiotemporal patterns in active matter is of essential importance in view of prospective applications. In contrast to previous studies utilizing external control such as geometrical constraints [1], we here explore the possibility of controlling suspensions of microswimmers via the internal rheological properties of the suspension. Recent work has focused on the impact of viscoelastic and non-Newtonian behavior on the dynamics of single swimmers [3], but only a limited number of studies explores the consequences for collective motion and emergent patterns. Here, employing a recent continuum model for mesoscale turbulence in microswimmer suspensions [4], we investigate the impact of non-Newtonian behavior on the pattern formation. In particular, we focus on the stabilization of regular vortex structures in otherwise turbulent suspensions without the need for external intervention.

[1] H. Reinken, D. Nishiguchi, S. Heidenreich, A. Sokolov, M. Bär, S. H. L. Klapp, and I. S. Aranson, Commun. Phys. 3, 76 (2020)

[3] G. Li, E. Lauga, and A. M. Ardekani, J. Non-Newton. Fluid Mech. 297, 104655 (2021)

[4] J. Słomka and J. Dunkel, Eur. Phys. J. ST 224, 1349 (2015), Phys. Rev. Fluids 2, 043102 (2017), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114, 2119 (2017)

Keywords: Pattern formation; Microswimmers; non-Newtonian; Active matter; Turbulence