Thu April 13th 2023 16:00 – 16:30 ZH286 | Seminar | Structural states and Hamiltonian conservation laws in biologically inspired active fluids Naomi Oppenheimer |
Details:In this talk, I will describe two biologically inspired systems that can be described using the same geometrical Hamiltonian formalism. The first is ATP synthase proteins which rotate in a biological membrane. The second is swimming micro-organisms such as bacteria or algae confined to a 2D film. I will show that in both cases, the active systems self-assemble into distinct structural states --- the rotating proteins rearrange into a hexagonal lattice, whereas the micro-swimmers evolve into sharp lines with a particular tilt. While the two systems differ both on the microscopic, local interaction, as well as the emerging, global structure, I will show that their dynamics originate from similar geometrical conservation laws dictated by a Hamiltonian formalism applicable to a broad class of fluid flows. |