TY - JOUR
T1 - Dancing volvox
T2 - Hydrodynamic bound states of swimming algae
AU - Drescher, Knut
AU - Leptos, Kyriacos C.
AU - Tuval, Idan
AU - Ishikawa, Takuji
AU - Pedley, Timothy J.
AU - Goldstein, Raymond E.
PY - 2009/4/21
Y1 - 2009/4/21
N2 - The spherical alga Volvox swims by means of flagella on thousands of surface somatic cells. This geometry and its large size make it a model organism for studying the fluid dynamics of multicellularity. Remarkably, when two nearby Volvox colonies swim close to a solid surface, they attract one another and can form stable bound states in which they "waltz" or "minuet" around each other. A surface-mediated hydrodynamic attraction combined with lubrication forces between spinning, bottom-heavy Volvox explains the formation, stability, and dynamics of the bound states. These phenomena are suggested to underlie observed clustering of Volvox at surfaces.
AB - The spherical alga Volvox swims by means of flagella on thousands of surface somatic cells. This geometry and its large size make it a model organism for studying the fluid dynamics of multicellularity. Remarkably, when two nearby Volvox colonies swim close to a solid surface, they attract one another and can form stable bound states in which they "waltz" or "minuet" around each other. A surface-mediated hydrodynamic attraction combined with lubrication forces between spinning, bottom-heavy Volvox explains the formation, stability, and dynamics of the bound states. These phenomena are suggested to underlie observed clustering of Volvox at surfaces.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67650445643&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=67650445643&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.168101
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.168101
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:67650445643
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 102
JO - Physical Review Letters
JF - Physical Review Letters
IS - 16
M1 - 168101
ER -