Julia Yeomans OBE FRS

Abstract:

We demonstrate that the so-called pancake bounce of millimetric water droplets on surfaces patterned with hydrophobic posts (Liu et al 2014 Nat. Phys. 10 515) can be reproduced on larger scales. In our experiment, a bed of nails plays the role of the structured surface and a water balloon models the water droplet. The macroscopic version largely reproduces the features of the microscopic experiment, including the Weber number dependence and the reduced contact time for pancake bouncing. The scalability of the experiment confirms the mechanisms of pancake bouncing, and allows us to measure the force exerted on the surface during the bounce. The experiment is simple and inexpensive and is an example where front-line research is accessible to student projects.

Abstract:

This is a series of four lectures presented at the 2015 Enrico Fermi Summer School in Varenna. The aim of the lectures is to give an introduction to the hydrodynamics of active matter concentrating on low-Reynolds-number examples such as cells and molecular motors. Lecture 1 introduces the hydrodynamics of single active particles, covering the Stokes equation and the Scallop Theorem, and stressing the link between autonomous activity and the dipolar symmetry of the far flow field. In lecture 2 I discuss applications of this mathematics to the behaviour of microswimmers at surfaces and in external flows, and describe our current understanding of how swimmers stir the surrounding fluid. Lecture 3 concentrates on the collective behaviour of active particles, modelled as an active nematic. I write down the equations of motion and motivate the form of the active stress. The resulting hydrodynamic instability leads to a state termed “active turbulence” characterised by strong jets and vortices in the flow field and the continual creation and annihilation of pairs of topological defects. Lecture 4 compares simulations of active turbulence to experiments on suspensions of microtubules and molecular motors. I introduce lyotropic active nematics and discuss active anchoring at interfaces.

Abstract:

One of the principal mechanisms by which surfaces and interfaces affect microbial life is by perturbing the hydrodynamic flows generated by swimming. By summing a recursive series of image systems we derive a numerically tractable approximation to the threedimensional flow fields of a Stokeslet (point force) within a viscous film between a parallel no-slip surface and no-shear interface and, from this Green's function, we compute the flows produced by a force- and torque-free micro-swimmer. We also extend the exact solution of Liron and Mochon (1976) to the film geometry, which demonstrates that the image series gives a satisfactory approximation to the swimmer flow fields if the film is sufficiently thick compared to the swimmer size, and we derive the swimmer flows in the thin-film limit. Concentrating on the thick film case, we find that the dipole moment induces a bias towards swimmer accumulation at the no-slip wall rather than the waterair interface, but that higher-order multipole moments can oppose this. Based on the analytic predictions we propose an experimental method to find the multipole coefficient that induces circular swimming trajectories, allowing one to analytically determine the swimmer's three-dimensional position under a microscope.