Journal
PHYSICAL REVIEW E
Volume 80, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.80.041922
Keywords
cell motility; microorganisms; suspensions; viscosity
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Funding
- DOE [DE-AC02-06CH11357, DE-FG02-08ER25862]
- NSF [DMS-0708324]
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-FG02-08ER25862] Funding Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
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We derive the effective viscosity of dilute suspensions of swimming bacteria from the microscopic details of the interaction of an elongated body with the background flow. An individual bacterium propels itself forward by rotating its flagella and reorients itself randomly by tumbling. Due to the bacterium's asymmetric shape, interactions with a prescribed generic (such as planar shear or straining) background flow cause the bacteria to preferentially align in directions in which self-propulsion produces a significant reduction in the effective viscosity, in agreement with recent experiments on suspensions of Bacillus subtilis.
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