Synchronization of flexible sheets

Details Synchronization of flexible sheets Synchronization of flexible sheets

2011-08-30

arxiv.org/abs/1108.5791v1

Journal of Fluid Mechanics 674 (2011) 163-173

Physics

Fluid Dynamics

8 pages, 4 figures

Scientific paper

10.1017/S0022112011000814

When swimming in close proximity, some microorganisms such as spermatozoa synchronize their flagella. Previous work on swimming sheets showed that such synchronization requires a geometrical asymmetry in the flagellar waveforms. Here we inquire about a physical mechanism responsible for such symmetry-breaking in nature. Using a two-dimensional model, we demonstrate that flexible sheets with symmetric internal forcing, deform when interacting with each other via a thin fluid layer in such a way as to systematically break the overall waveform symmetry, thereby always evolving to an in-phase conformation where energy dissipation is minimized. This dynamics is shown to be mathematically equivalent to that obtained for prescribed waveforms in viscoelastic fluids, emphasizing the crucial role of elasticity in symmetry-breaking and synchronization.

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