A hybrid particle-mesh method for incompressible active polar viscous gels

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Rajesh Ramaswamy - , Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD) (Author)
  • George Bourantas - , TUD Dresden University of Technology, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Author)
  • Frank Jülicher - , Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD) (Author)
  • Ivo F. Sbalzarini - , Chair of Scientific Computing for Systems Biology, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD), Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Author)

Abstract

We present a hybrid particle-mesh method for numerically solving the hydrodynamic equations of incompressible active polar viscous gels. These equations model the dynamics of polar active agents, embedded in a viscous medium, in which stresses are induced through constant consumption of energy. The numerical method is based on Lagrangian particles and staggered Cartesian finite-difference meshes. We show that the method is second-order and first-order accurate with respect to grid and time-step sizes, respectively. Using the present method, we simulate the hydrodynamics in rectangular geometries, of a passive liquid crystal, of an active polar film and of active gels with topological defects in polarization. We show the emergence of spontaneous flow due to Fréedericksz transition, and transformation in the nature of topological defects by tuning the activity of the system.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)334-361
Number of pages28
JournalJournal of computational physics
Volume291
Publication statusPublished - 5 Jun 2015
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0003-4414-4340/work/142252140

Keywords

Keywords

  • Active polar gels, Hybrid particle-mesh method, Mechanochemical processes, Non-Newtonian fluids, Numerical simulation