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The eukaryotic flagellum propels sperm cells and simultaneously detects physical and chemical cues that modulate the waveform of the flagellar beat. Most previous studies have characterized the flagellar beat and swimming trajectories in two space dimensions (2D) at a water/glass interface. Here, using refined holographic imaging methods, we report high-quality recordings of three-dimensional (3D) flagellar bending waves. As predicted by theory, we observed that an asymmetric and planar flagellar beat results in a circular swimming path, whereas a symmetric and non-planar flagellar beat results in a twisted-ribbon swimming path. During swimming in 3D, human sperm flagella exhibit torsion waves characterized by maxima at the low curvature regions of the flagellar wave. We suggest that these torsion waves are common in nature and that they are an intrinsic property of beating axonemes. We discuss how 3D beat patterns result in twisted-ribbon swimming paths. This study provides new insight into the axoneme dynamics, the 3D flagellar beat, and the resulting swimming behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a Brownian dynamics theory with full hydrodynamics (Stokesian dynamics) for a Gaussian polymer chain embedded in a liquid membrane which is surrounded by bulk solvent and walls. The mobility tensors are derived in Fourier space for the two geometries, namely, a free membrane embedded in a bulk fluid, and a membrane sandwiched by the two walls. Within the preaveraging approximation, a new expression for the diffusion coefficient of the polymer is obtained for the free-membrane geometry. We also carry out a Rouse normal mode analysis to obtain the relaxation time and the dynamical structure factor. For large polymer size, both quantities show Zimm-like behavior in the free-membrane case, whereas they are Rouse-like for the sandwiched membrane geometry. We use the scaling argument to discuss the effect of excluded-volume interactions on the polymer relaxation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review, we describe and analyze a mesoscale simulation method for fluid flow, which was introduced by Malevanets and Kapral in 1999, and is now called multi-particle collision dynamics (MPC) or stochastic rotation dynamics (SRD). The method consists of alternating streaming and collision steps in an ensemble of point particles. The multi-particle collisions are performed by grouping particles in collision cells, and mass, momentum, and energy are locally conserved. This simulation technique captures both full hydrodynamic interactions and thermal fluctuations. The first part of the review begins with a description of several widely used MPC algorithms and then discusses important features of the original SRD algorithm and frequently used variations. Two complementary approaches for deriving the hydrodynamic equations and evaluating the transport coefficients are reviewed. It is then shown how MPC algorithms can be generalized to model non-ideal fluids, and binary mixtures with a consolute point. The importance of angular-momentum conservation for systems like phase-separated liquids with different viscosities is discussed. The second part of the review describes a number of recent applications of MPC algorithms to study colloid and polymer dynamics, the behavior of vesicles and cells in hydrodynamic flows, and the dynamics of vis-coelastic fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stochastic motion of a two-dimensional vesicle in linear shear flow is studied at finite temperature. In the limit of small deformations from a circle, Langevin-type equations of motion are derived, which are highly nonlinear due to the constraint of constant perimeter length. These equations are solved in the low-temperature limit and using a mean-field approach, in which the length constraint is satisfied only on average. The constraint imposes non-trivial correlations between the lowest deformation modes at low temperature. We also simulate a vesicle in a hydrodynamic solvent by using the multi-particle collision dynamics technique, both in the quasi-circular regime and for larger deformations, and compare the stationary deformation correlation functions and the time autocorrelation functions with theoretical predictions. Good agreement between theory and simulations is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virus capsids are self-assembled protein shells in the size range of 10 to 100 nanometers. The shells of DNA-viruses have to sustain large internal pressures while encapsulating and protecting the viral DNA. We employ computer simulations to study the mechanical properties of crystalline shells with icosahedral symmetry that serve as a model for virus capsids. The shells are positioned on a substrate and deformed by a uni-axial force excerted by a small bead. We predict the elastic response for small deformations, and the buckling transitions at large deformations. Both are found to depend strongly on the number N of elementary building blocks (capsomers), and the Föppl-von Kármán number γ which characterizes the relative importance of shear and bending elasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mutual effects of the conformations of a star polymer in simple shear flow and the deformation of the solvent flow field are investigated by a hybrid mesoscale simulation technique. We characterize the flow field near the star polymer as a function of its functionality (arm number) f . A strong screening of the imposed flow is found inside the star polymer, which increases with increasing f . To elucidate the importance of hydrodynamic screening, we compare results for hydrodynamic and random solvents. The dependence of the polymer orientation angle on the Weissenberg number shows a power law behavior with super-universal exponent --independent of hydrodynamic and excluded-volume interactions. In contrast, the polymer rotation frequency changes qualitatively when hydrodynamic interactions are switched on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin elastic sheets are important materials across length scales ranging from mesoscopic (polymerized membranes, clay platelets, virus capsids) to macroscopic (paper, metal foils). The crumpling of such sheets by external forces is characterized by the formation of a complex pattern of folds. We have investigated the role of self-avoidance, the fact that the sheets cannot self-intersect, for the crumpling process by large-scale computer simulations. At moderate compression, the force–compression relations of crumpled sheets for both self-avoiding and phantom sheets are found to obey universal power-law behaviours. However, self-avoiding sheets are much stiffer than phantom sheets and, for a given compression, develop many more folds. Moreover, self-avoidance is relevant already at very small volume fractions. The fold-length distribution for crumpled sheets is determined, and is found to be well-described by a log-normal distribution. The stiffening owing to self-avoidance is reflected in the changing nature of the sheet-to-sheet contacts from line-like to two-dimensionally extended with increasing compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel mesoscopic simulation technique --multi-particle collision dynamics-- which has been suggested very recently, is used to study the two-dimensional flow around a square and a circular cylinder. The method is described and new proper boundary conditions are proposed to deal with wall collisions. The flow is analyzed in a wide range of Reynolds numbers in order to cover both the steady and unsteady regimes, resulting in symmetric steady vortices and periodic vortex shedding, respectively. The numerical results for integral flow parameters, such as the recirculation length, the drag and lift coefficients, the Strouhal number, as well as the spatial dependence of the velocity field, are compared with previous numerical and experimental studies. The qualitative and quantitative agreement is very good, validating the method as a promising technique to describe the hydrodynamic effects of solvent on embedded particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the dynamical behavior of lamellar phases in ternary amphiphilic systems of water, oil and amphiphile. The interaction between the amphiphilic monolayers is described by the steric interaction due to thermal fluctuations for uncharged, and by electrostatic interactions for charged systems. The dynamics of the system is determined by the hydrodynamics of the fluid layers. The basic parameters of our model are the viscosities of the two solvents, the average thicknesses of the oil and water layers, and the bending rigidity. The model allows to consider different monolayer interactions across the oil and water layers. Relaxation rates are calculated for arbitrary wave vectors parallel and perpendicular to the average monolayer plane. We find that there is a quite complex crossover behavior from a law for small parallel wave vectors to a law for large . We discuss the relevance of our result for the interpretation of dynamic light-scattering and neutron-spin-echo experiments for these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The freezing transition of a network model for tensionless membranes confined to two dimensions is investigated by Monte Carlo simulations and scaling arguments. In this model, a freezing transition is induced by reducing the tether length. Translational and bond-orientational order parameters and elastic constants are determined as a function of the tether length. A finite-size scaling analysis is used to show that the crystal melts via successive dislocation and disclination unbinding transitions, in qualitative agreement with the predictions of the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young theory. The hexatic phase is found to be stable over only a very small interval of tether lengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the dynamics of spontaneous emulsification of an initially planar oil-water interface when surfactants are added. The thermodynamic properties of the ternary oil-water-surfactant system are modeled by a Ginzburg-Landau-type free energy. The lattice Boltzmann method is used to solve the dynamic equations. The dynamics is found to be governed by a complicated interplay of convection and diffusion as the two relevant transport mechanisms. As long as the interface is almost flat, we find the interfacial area to grow first exponentially and then linearly in time. Later finger-like structures form which grow with a constant velocity. The tip velocity is found to increase roughly linearly with the mobility of the amphiphile, and to decrease as with the solvent viscosity . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editors discuss the need for a unified view of soft matter systems. It has been recognized in the past that colloids, polymers and surfactants are by far not as distinct materials as previously assumed. According to the editors, mixtures of several components of colloidal, polymeric or amphiphilic character are becoming increasingly important. Biological and biomimetic systems share many macromolecules and properties with soft matter systems.

The effect of amphiphilic block copolymers on ternary microemulsions (water, oil and non-ionic surfactant) is investigated. Small amounts of PEP-PEO block copolymer lead to a dramatic expansion of the one-phase region where water and oil can be solubilized by the mediation of surfactant molecules. Small-angle neutron-scattering experiments employing a high-precision two-dimensional contrast-variation technique demonstrate that the polymer is distributed uniformly on the surfactant membrane, where it modifies the membrane curvature elasticity. Furthermore, a new approach to determine the bending rigidity of an amphiphilic membrane is proposed, which is precise enough to measure the logarithmic scale dependence of the bending rigidity and its universal prefactor in bicontinuous microemulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using neutron spin-echo (NSE) spectroscopy in combination with dynamic light scattering (DLS), we performed an extensive investigation of the bicontinuous phase in ternary water-surfactant-oil microemulsions, with extension to lamellar and droplet phases. The dynamical behavior of surfactant monolayers of decyl-polyglycol-ether (C[sub 10]E[sub 4]) molecules, or mixtures of surfactant with long amphiphilic block-copolymers of type poly-ethylene propylene/polyethylene oxide (PEP-PEO) was studied, under comparable conditions. The investigation techniques provide access to different length scales relative to the characteristic periodicity length of the microemulsion structure. Information on the elastic bending modulus is obtained from the local scale dynamics in view of existing theoretical descriptions and is found to be in accordance with small angle neutron scattering (SANS) studies. Evidence for the modified elastic properties and additional interaction of the amphiphilic layers due to the polymer is more pronounced at a larger scale. Experiments on oriented lamellar phases, and also droplet phases, with anchored block-copolymers offer more insight into the effective layer-layer interaction and efficiency boosting associated with the polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]