Amoeba-like motion of an oil droplet

In this paper, we demonstrate our recent attempt to construct a chemical model system of amoeboid motion. The system is intended to mimic biological motility based on the generation and collapse of an elastic aggregate; it is composed of oil, water, and surfactants. In this chemical system, the oil–water interface shows extension and retreat of spherical extrusions accompanied by the generation of aggregate on the interface. This instability of the oil–water interface can cause autonomous splitting and motion of a floating oil droplet. The current mathematical model based on the generation of a passive elastic gel is explained, as well as the discrepancy between the model and the experiments. We further describe recently observed microscopic characteristics of the aggregate formation process that might cause the interfacial instability. Finally, we discuss the disadvantage of a chemical model system compared with active colloid and in vitro biological systems, and also mention its potential advantages.     

Interface dynamics under nonequilibrium conditions: From a self-propelled droplet to dynamic pattern evolution

In this article, we describe the instability of a contact line under nonequilibrium conditions mainly based on the results of our recent studies. Two experimental examples are presented: the self-propelled motion of a liquid droplet and spontaneous dynamic pattern formation. For the self-propelled motion of a droplet, we introduce an experiment in which a droplet of aniline sitting on an aqueous layer moves spontaneously at an air-water interface. The spontaneous symmetry breaking of Marangoni-driven spreading causes regular motion. In a circular Petri dish, the droplet exhibits either beeline motion or circular motion. On the other hand, we show the emergence of a dynamic labyrinthine pattern caused by dewetting of a metastable thin film from the air-water interface. The contact line between the organic phase and the aqueous phase forms a unique spatio-temporal pattern characterized as a dynamic labyrinth. Motion of the contact line is controlled by diffusion processes. We propose a theoretical model to interpret essential aspects of the observed dynamic behavior.     

Transient bimodality of nonequilibrium states in monostable systems with noise

We discuss a new type of monostable potential profiles for which the phenomenon of transient bimodality occurs in dynamic systems. It is shown that transient bimodality occurs if the potential profile describing the dynamic system has a linear part. A new method for calculating the lifetime of the transient bimodality is proposed. We show that the lifetime of transient bimodality for the considered potential profiles increases in proportion to the fluctuation intensity. N. I. Lobachevsky State University, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 42, No. 10, pp. 1025–1032, October, 1999.     

Relationship between low-frequency noise and the stability of nonequilibrium structures

V. I. Lenin All-Union Electrical Engineering Institute. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 32, No. 7, pp. 885–890, July, 1989.     

Linked-cluster expansions in the equations of motion method for nonequilibrium processes

For an arbitrary irreversible process taking place in a closed physical system equations of motion are derived directly from the Liouville equation without introducing any projection operator. These equations are of nonmarkowian nature and are exactly valid for any system arbitrarily far from equilibrium. Using field-theoretical techniques the integral kernels in these equations are expanded into a diagram perturbation series which is proved to be linked. For a system having short memory it is shown that the secular divergent terms cancel each other. Then, using the diagram language the equations of motion are obtained in a much simpler form.     

Collective motion and nonequilibrium cluster formation in colonies of gliding bacteria

We characterize cell motion in experiments and show that the transition to collective motion in colonies of gliding bacterial cells confined to a monolayer appears through the organization of cells into larger moving clusters. Collective motion by nonequilibrium cluster formation is detected for a critical cell packing fraction around 17%. This transition is characterized by a scale-free power-law cluster-size distribution, with an exponent 0.88±0.07, and the appearance of giant number fluctuations. Our findings are in quantitative agreement with simulations of self-propelled rods. This suggests that the interplay of self-propulsion and the rod shape of bacteria is sufficient to induce collective motion.     

带凹槽的微通道中液滴运动数值模拟

运用改进的耗散粒子动力学方法模拟了液滴在由凹槽所构成的粗糙表面微通道内的运动行为.改进的耗散粒子动力学方法采用新近提出的一种短程排斥、长程吸引相互作用势能函数,从而可以模拟带有自由面的流体,如液滴等.模拟了新势能函数下液滴与固体壁面的静态接触角,并用2次多项式拟合了"接触角-a_wf/a_f"变化曲线.研究了液滴在带凹槽的微通道中运动时,微通道壁面浸润性、外场力、液滴温度对液滴流动特性的影响.研究表明壁面浸润性和外场力对液滴流动特性的影响较大,液滴温度对液滴流动特性的影响较小.研究结果对运用耗散粒子动力学方法模拟并分析微流体在复杂微通道的流动有一定的参考价值.     

Enhancing the emergence rate of coherent wavefronts from ocean ambient noise correlations using spatio-temporal filters

Extracting coherent wavefronts between passive receivers using cross-correlations of ambient noise (CAN) provides a means for monitoring the seismoacoustic environment without using active sources. However, using cross-correlations between single receivers can require a long recording time in order to extract stable coherent arrivals from CAN. This becomes an issue if the propagation medium fluctuates significantly during the recording period. To address this issue, this article presents a general spatio-temporal filtering procedure to enhance the emergence rate for coherent wavefronts extracted from time-averaged ambient noise correlations between two spatially separated arrays. The robustness of this array-based CAN technique is investigated using ambient shipping noise recorded over 24?h in the frequency band [250-850 Hz] on two vertical line arrays deployed 143?m apart in shallow water (depth 20?m). Experimental results confirm that the array-based CAN technique can significantly reduce the recording duration (e.g., from 22?h to 30?min) required for extracting coherent wavefronts of sufficient amplitude (e.g., 20?dB over residual temporal fluctations) when compared to conventional CAN implementations between single pairs of hydrophones. These improvements of the CAN technique could benefit the development of noise-based ocean monitoring applications such as passive acoustic tomography.     

Self-motion of an oil droplet: a simple physicochemical model of active Brownian motion

The self-motion of an oil droplet in an aqueous phase on a glass surface is reported. The aqueous phase contains a cationic surfactant, which tends to be adsorbed onto the glass surface. The oil droplet contains potassium iodide and iodine, which prefers to make an ion pair with the cationic surfactant. Since the ion pair is soluble in the oil droplet, dissolution of the surfactant into the oil droplet is promoted, i.e., the system is far from equilibrium with regard to surfactant concentration. The oil droplet is self-driven in a reactive manner by the spatial gradient of the glass surface tension. We discuss the intrinsic nature of this self-motion by developing a simple mathematical model that incorporates adsorption and desorption of the surfactant on the glass surface. Using this mathematical model we were able to construct an equation of motion that reproduces the observed self-motion of an oil droplet. This equation describes active Brownian motion. Theoretical considerations were used to predict the generation of the regular mode of oil-droplet motion, which was subsequently confirmed by experiments.     

Dissipative dynamics of a quantum two-state system in presenceof nonequilibrium quantum noise

We analyze the real-time dynamics of a quantum two-state system in the presence ofnonequilibrium quantum fluctuations. The latter are generated by a coupling of thetwo-state system to a single electronic level of a quantum dot which carries anonequilibrium tunneling current. We restrict to the sequential tunneling regime andcalculate the dynamics of the two-state system, of the dot population, and of thenonequilibrium charge current on the basis of a diagrammatic perturbative method valid fora weak tunneling coupling. We find a nontrivial dependence of the relaxation and dephasingrates of the two-state system due to the nonequilibrium fluctuations which is directlylinked to the structure of the unperturbed central system. In addition, aHeisenberg-Langevin-equation of motion allows us to calculate the correlation function ofthe nonequilibrium fluctuations. By this, we obtain a generalized nonequilibriumfluctuation relation which includes the equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation theorem in thelimit of zero transport voltage. A straightforward extension to the case with atime-periodic ac voltage is shown.     

润湿性梯度驱动液滴运动的格子Boltzmann模拟

运用考虑了固体与液体间分子作用力的格子Boltzmann方法,数值研究了由于固液界面上表面张力梯度引起的Marangoni效应驱动的液滴运动.当表面张力梯度较小时,计算结果和前人的理论预测符合较好.而表面张力梯度较大时,由于液滴不变形和准平衡态等假设不再满足,理论预测的液滴运动速度高于数值模拟的结果.计算结果显示,在向亲水端运动过程中液滴内部出现旋涡结构,当润湿性梯度较大时,其前进速度和接触角随时间变化出现振荡. 关键词： 润湿性 格子Boltzmann方法 Marangoni效应 液滴     

润湿性梯度驱动液滴运动的格子Boltzmann模拟

运用考虑了固体与液体间分子作用力的格子Boltzmann方法,数值研究了由于固液界面上表面张力梯度引起的Marangoni效应驱动的液滴运动.当表面张力梯度较小时,计算结果和前人的理论预测符合较好.而表面张力梯度较大时,由于液滴不变形和准平衡态等假设不再满足,理论预测的液滴运动速度高于数值模拟的结果.计算结果显示,在向亲水端运动过程中液滴内部出现旋涡结构,当润湿性梯度较大时,其前进速度和接触角随时间变化出现振荡.     

Absorption of intense regular and noise waves in relaxing media

An integro-differential equation is written down that contains terms responsible for nonlinear absorption, visco-heat-conducting dissipation, and relaxation processes in a medium. A general integral expression is obtained for calculating energy losses of the wave with arbitrary characteristics—intensity, profile (frequency spectrum), and kernel describing the internal dynamics of the medium. It is shown that for weak waves, the general integral leads to well-known results of a linear approximation. Profiles of stationary solutions are constructed both for an exponential relaxation kernel and for other types of kernels. Energy losses at the front of week shock waves are calculated. General integral formulas are obtained for energy losses of intense noise, which are determined by the form of the kernel, the structure of the noise correlation function, and the mean square of the derivative of realization of a random process.     

Hydrodynamics of passing-over motion during binary droplet collision in shear flow

A combined experimental and numerical study is undertaken to investigate the hydrodynamic characteristics of single-phase droplet collision in a shear flow. The passing-over motion of interactive droplets is observed, and the underlying hydrodynamic mechanisms are elucidated by the analysis of the motion trajectory, transient droplet deformation and detailed hydrodynamic information (e.g., pressure and flow fields). The results indicate that the hydrodynamic interaction process under shear could be divided into three stages: approaching, colliding, and separating. With the increasing confinement, the interaction time for the passing-over process is shorter and the droplet processes one higher curvature tip and more stretched profile. Furthermore, the lateral separation Δy/R₁ exhibits larger decrease in the approaching stage and the thickness of the lubrication film is decreased during the interaction. As the initial lateral separation increases, the maximum trajectory shift by the collision interaction is getting smaller. During the collision between two droplets with different sizes, the amplitude of the deformation oscillation of the larger droplet is decreased by reducing the size ratio of the smaller droplet to the bigger one.     

Collective motion of active particles in environmental noise

We study the collective motion of active particles in environmental noise, where the environmental noise is caused by noise particles randomly diffusing in two-dimensional space. We show that active particles in a noisy environment can self organize into three typical phases: polar liquid, band, and disordered gas states. In our model, the transition between band and disordered gas states is discontinuous. Giant number fluctuation is observed in the polar liquid phase. We also compare our results with the Vicsek model and show that the interaction with noise particles can stabilize the band state to very low noise condition. This band structure could recruit most of the active particles in the system, which greatly enhances the coherence of the system. Our findings of complex collective behaviors in environmental noise help us to understand how individuals modify their self-organization by environmental factors, which may further contribute to improving the design of collective migration and navigation strategies.