Passive hydrodynamic synchronization of two-dimensional swimming cells

Spermatozoa flagella are known to synchronize when swimming in close proximity. We use a model consisting of two-dimensional sheets propagating transverse waves of displacement to demonstrate that fluid forces lead to such synchronization passively. Using two distinct asymptotic descriptions (small amplitude and long wavelength), we derive the synchronizing dynamics analytically for arbitrarily shaped waveforms in Newtonian fluids, and show that phase-locking will always occur for sufficiently asymmetric shapes. We characterize the effect of the geometry of the waveforms and the separation between the swimmers on the synchronizing dynamics, the final stable conformations, and the energy dissipated by the cells. For two closely swimming cells, synchronization always occurs at the in-phase or opposite-phase conformation, depending solely on the geometry of the cells. In contrast, the work done by the swimmers is always minimized at the in-phase conformation. As the swimmers get further apart, additional fixed points arise at intermediate values of the relative phase. In addition, computations for large amplitude waves using the boundary integral method reveal that the two asymptotic limits capture all the relevant physics of the problem. Our results provide a theoretical framework to address other hydrodynamic interactions phenomena relevant to populations of self-propelled organisms. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3532954]