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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 50: Focus Session: Controlling Microparticles and Biological Cells by Ultrasound (joint session BP/CPP/DY)
DY 50.7: Talk
Thursday, March 12, 2026, 12:30–12:45, BAR/0106
Equations of motion for arbitrarily shaped acoustically propelled rigid microparticles — •Justus Schnermann1,2,3 and Raphael Wittkowski1,2,3 — 1Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany — 2DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany — 3Institute of Theoretical Physics, Center for Soft Nanoscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Much experimental research concerns the acoustic propulsion of microparticles, but theoretically, only axisymmetric particles with a stable orientation have been studied thus far. In this talk, we present an analytical derivation of the ordinary differential equation of motion for an arbitrarily shaped acoustically propelled rigid microparticle. This equation governs the time evolution of the orientation and position of the particle. Its parameters depend only on the particle’s leading-order oscillation velocity field. Based on this equation, we classify qualitatively the possible long-term trajectories of arbitrary particles in unidirectional ultrasound.
Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – 535275785.
Keywords: sound-propelled microparticles; equations of motion; acoustofluidics; ultrasound; active matter