Phenomenological model of motility by spatiotemporal modulation of active interactions
Abstract
Transport at microscopic length scales is essential in biological systems and various technologies, including microfluidics. Recent experiments achieved self-organized transport phenomena in microtubule active matter using light to modulate motor-protein activity in time and space. Here, we introduce a novel phenomenological model to explain such experiments. Our model, based on spatially modulated particle interactions, reveals a possible mechanism for emergent transport phenomena in light-controlled active matter, including motility and contraction. In particular, the model's analytic treatment elucidates the conservation of the center of mass of activated particles as a fundamental mechanism of material transport and demonstrates the necessity of memory for sustained motility. Furthermore, we generalize the model to explain other phenomena, like microtubule aster-aster interactions induced by more complicated activation geometries. Our results demonstrate that the model provides a possible foundation for the phenomenological understanding of light-controlled active matter, and it will enable the design and optimization of transport protocols for active matter devices.
- Publication:
-
New Journal of Physics
- Pub Date:
- August 2021
- DOI:
- 10.1088/1367-2630/ac1144
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2007.04461
- Bibcode:
- 2021NJPh...23h3001S
- Keywords:
-
- protein-based active matter;
- phenomenological description;
- molecular dynamics simulations;
- Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter
- E-Print:
- New Journal of Physics 23, 083001 (2021)