Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Posters: Statistical Physics in Biological Systems
BP 7.18: Poster
Monday, March 14, 2011, 17:15–20:00, P3
Active chiral fluids — •Sebastian Fürthauer1,2, Stephan W. Grill1,2, and Frank Jülicher1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany — 2Max Planck Intitute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
Dynamic cellcular processes such as cell division and cell motility rely on the cytoskeleton, a meshwork of polar elastic filaments. Motor molecules provide active crosslinking between these filaments and exert internal forces in the network as they consume a chemical fuel (ATP). We extend previous continuum descriptions of active gels in the hydrodynamnic limit to take into account active chiral effects. Such chiral effects stem from the chirality of motor-filament interactions and are for example very prominent in the chiral beat of cilia. We derive generic constituve equations for a chiral active fluid. Our theory can describe generic behaviors on large scales in active chiral systems ranging from chiral swimmers to the collective motion generated by cilia that beat on surfaces.