Abstract
Motivated by recent experimental measurements, the passive diffusion of the bacterium Leptospira interrogans is investigated theoretically. By approximating the cell shape as a straight helix and using the slender-body-theory approximation of Stokesian hydrodynamics, the resistance matrix of Leptospira is first determined numerically. The passive diffusion of the helical cell is then obtained computationally using a Langevin formulation which is sampled in time in a manner consistent with the experimental procedure. Our results are in excellent quantitative agreement with the experimental results with no adjustable parameters.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 066008 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Physical Biology |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Bacterial diffusion
- Brownian motion
- Helix
- Leptospira
- Slender bodies
- Stokes flow
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Koens, L., & Lauga, E. (2014). The passive diffusion of Leptospira interrogans. Physical Biology, 11(6), 1-12. [066008]. https://doi.org/10.1088/1478-3975/11/6/066008