EMU & TSU COLLOQUIUM

EMU TSU COLLOQUIUM

Speaker: Dr. Brato Chakrabarti

Affiliation: Research Fellow, Biophysical Modeling, Flatiron Institute

Simons Foundation, 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010

Date and Time: January 6, 2023 (Friday) at 2:30 PM (Tea: 2:15 PM)

Place: AMRL Conference Hall

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Title: The Waves Within Us: Hydrodynamics of Passive and Active Filaments

Abstract:

An important class of microscale fluid-structure interactions in physics and biology involves the interactions and deformations of flexible elastica, both passive and active, with ambient fluid flows. Examples include the swimming of microorganisms using internally actuated cilia or flagella and the transport of material by the coordinated action of ciliary carpets.

I will discuss two problems concerning the dynamics of passive and active fibers in flows. First, I will talk about the novel buckling instabilities and complex shapes of single actin polymers in simple flows and their importance in the rheology of complex fluids.

I will then discuss a biophysical model of a spontaneously beating cilium that incorporates various details of their microscopic physics. Using this model, I will illustrate how beds of beating cilia self-organize to form large-scale metachronal waves that help in fluid transport.

This work has implications for understanding fundamental biological problems, such as vertebrate symmetry-breaking.