Hydrodynamic Interactions of Sperm
Sarah Olson (WPI), Lisa Fauci (Tulane University)
Hydrodynamics of Swimming Microorganisms
Tue 2:40 - 4:00
Barus-Holley 191
Sperm have been observed to form sperm trains and self organize into vortices. What is the relative role of biochemistry, flagellar waveform, and hydrodynamics in these interactions? In this talk, we will present recent computational results on attraction, synchronization, and the formation of sperm trains in 2-d and 3-d using the method of regularized Stokeslets. This corresponds to studying finite length sheets in 2-d and finite filaments in 3-d, leading to different behaviors and flow fields. These results will be studied for planar waveforms that are symmetrical and asymmetrical (varying amplitude).