Self-Polarizing Microswimmers in Active Density Waves

Abstract

An artificial microswimmer drifts in response to spatio-temporal modulations of an activating suspension medium. We consider two competing mechanisms capable of influencing its tactic response: angular fluctuations, which help it explore its surroundings and thus diffuse faster toward more active regions, and self-polarization, a mechanism inherent to self-propulsion, which tends to orient the swimmer's velocity parallel or antiparallel to the local activation gradients. We investigate, both numerically and analytically, the combined action of such two mechanisms. By determining their relative magnitude, we characterize the selective transport of artificial microswimmers in inhomogeneous activating media.

10 pages, 5 figures; Scientific Reports, accepted

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• Linear response approach to active Brownian particles in time-varying activity fields
• Taxis of Artificial Swimmers in a Spatio-Temporally Modulated Activation Medium
• Polarization-Density Patterns of Active Particles in Motility Gradients
• Electrophoresis of active Janus particles
• Spontaneous membrane formation and self-encapsulation of active rods in an inhomogeneous motility field
• Active Colloidal Molecules in Activity Gradients
• Taxis of cargo-carrying microswimmers in traveling activity waves
• Taming Polar Active Matter with Moving Substrates: Directed Transport and Counterpropagating Macrobands
• Inertial self-propelled particles in anisotropic environments
• Colloidal Brazil nut effect in microswimmer mixtures induced by motility contrast
• Force-Free and Autonomous Active Brownian Ratchets
• Re-entrant bimodality in spheroidal chiral swimmers in shear flow
• Active Transport of Cargo-Carrying and Interconnected Chiral Particles
• Riding the Wave: Polymers in Time-dependent Nonequilibrium Baths
• Thermotaxis of Janus Particles