Depletion forces on circular and elliptical obstacles induced by active matter

L. R. Leite, D. Lucena, F. Q. Potiguar, and W. P. Ferreira
Phys. Rev. E 94, 062602 – Published 2 December 2016

Abstract

Depletion forces exerted by self-propelled particles on circular and elliptical passive objects are studied using numerical simulations. We show that a bath of active particles can induce repulsive and attractive forces which are sensitive to the shape and orientation of the passive objects (either horizontal or vertical ellipses). The resultant force on the passive objects due to the active particles is studied as a function of the shape and orientation of the passive objects, magnitude of the angular noise, and distance between the passive objects. By increasing the distance between obstacles the magnitude of the repulsive depletion force increases, as long as such a distance is less than one active particle diameter. For longer distances, the magnitude of the force always decreases with increasing distance. We also found that attractive forces may arise for vertical ellipses at high enough area fraction.

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  • Received 18 May 2016
  • Revised 6 October 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.94.062602

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Physical Systems
Polymers & Soft Matter

Authors & Affiliations

L. R. Leite1,2, D. Lucena2, F. Q. Potiguar3, and W. P. Ferreira2

  • 1Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira, Campus dos Palmares, 62785-000 Acarape, Ceará, Brazil
  • 2Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Física Caixa Postal 6030, 60455-760 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
  • 3Universidade Federal do Pará, Faculdade de Física, ICEN, Av. Augusto Correia, 1, Guamá, 66075-110, Belém, Pará, Brazil

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Issue

Vol. 94, Iss. 6 — December 2016

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