Dynamics of enhanced tracer diffusion in suspensions of swimming eukaryotic microorganisms.
Phys Rev Lett
; 103(19): 198103, 2009 Nov 06.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20365957
ABSTRACT
In contexts such as suspension feeding in marine ecologies there is an interplay between brownian motion of nonmotile particles and their advection by flows from swimming microorganisms. As a laboratory realization, we study passive tracers in suspensions of eukaryotic swimmers, the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. While the cells behave ballistically over short intervals, the tracers behave diffusively, with a time-dependent but self-similar probability distribution function of displacements consisting of a gaussian core and robust exponential tails. We emphasize the role of flagellar beating in creating oscillatory flows that exceed brownian motion far from each swimmer.
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Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
/
Movimiento
Idioma:
En
Año:
2009
Tipo del documento:
Article