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Tracer trajectories and displacement due to a micro-swimmer near a surface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2015

A. J. T. M. Mathijssen ,
D. O. Pushkin  and
J. M. Yeomans
A. J. T. M. Mathijssen*
Affiliation:
Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, 1 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3NP, UK
D. O. Pushkin
Affiliation:
Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, 1 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3NP, UK
J. M. Yeomans
Affiliation:
Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, 1 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3NP, UK
*
†Email address for correspondence: mathijssen@physics.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

We study tracer particle transport due to flows created by a self-propelled micro-swimmer, such as a swimming bacterium, alga or a microscopic artificial swimmer. Recent theoretical work has shown that as a swimmer moves in the fluid bulk along an infinite straight path, tracer particles far from its path perform closed loops, whereas those close to the swimmer are entrained by its motion. However, in biologically and technologically important cases tracer transport is significantly altered for swimmers that move in a run-and-tumble fashion with a finite persistence length, and/or in the presence of a free surface or a solid boundary. Here we present a systematic analytical and numerical study exploring the resultant regimes and their crossovers. Our focus is on describing qualitative features of the tracer particle transport and developing quantitative tools for its analysis. Our work is a step towards understanding the ecological effects of flows created by swimming organisms, such as enhanced fluid mixing and biofilm formation.

JFM classification

Biological Fluid Dynamics: Biological Fluid Dynamics Low-Reynolds-number flows: Low-Reynolds-number flows Biological Fluid Dynamics: Micro-organism dynamics
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 773 , 25 June 2015 , pp. 498 - 519
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Copyright
© 2015 Cambridge University Press 

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