Long-range nematic order and anomalous fluctuations in suspensions of swimming filamentous bacteria

Phys Rev E. 2017 Feb;95(2-1):020601. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.95.020601. Epub 2017 Feb 7.

Abstract

We study the collective dynamics of elongated swimmers in a very thin fluid layer by devising long filamentous nontumbling bacteria. The strong confinement induces weak nematic alignment upon collision, which, for large enough density of cells, gives rise to global nematic order. This homogeneous but fluctuating phase, observed on the largest experimentally accessible scale of millimeters, exhibits the properties predicted by standard models for flocking, such as the Vicsek-style model of polar particles with nematic alignment: true long-range nematic order and nontrivial giant number fluctuations.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Bacterial Physiological Phenomena*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Cephalexin / pharmacology
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Escherichia coli / physiology
  • Luminescent Proteins / genetics
  • Luminescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Models, Biological
  • Movement
  • Video Recording

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Luminescent Proteins
  • yellow fluorescent protein, Bacteria
  • Cephalexin