Description:

**Please note: This event will be at 1:00pm, in-person only.

Title: Hydrodynamic Hamiltonians of Active Two-dimensional Fluids

Speaker: Naomi Oppenheimer, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Abstract: I will describe two biologically inspired systems that can be analyzed using the same hydrodynamic Hamiltonian formalism. The first is ATP synthase proteins, which rotate in a biological membrane. The second is swimming micro-organisms such as bacteria or algae confined to a two-dimensional film. I will show that in both cases, the active systems self-assemble into distinct structural states --- the rotating proteins rearrange into a hexagonal lattice, whereas the micro-swimmers evolve into a zig-zag configuration with a particular tilt. While the two systems differ both on the microscopic, local interaction, as well as the emerging, global structure, their dynamics originate from similar geometrical conservation laws applicable to a broad class of fluid flows. I will then show experiments and simulations in which the Hamiltonian is perturbed, leading to different and surprising steady-state configurations.  

Webpage: https://en-exact-sciences.tau.ac.il/profile/naomiopp

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