| Autor: |
Bonn L; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark., Ardaševa A; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark., Mueller R; The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom., Shendruk TN; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom., Doostmohammadi A; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark. |
| Abstrakt: |
Topological defects are increasingly being identified in various biological systems, where their characteristic flow fields and stress patterns are associated with continuous active stress generation by biological entities. Here, using numerical simulations of continuum fluctuating nematohydrodynamics, we show that even in the absence of any specific form of active stresses associated with self-propulsion, mesoscopic fluctuations in either orientational alignment or hydrodynamics can independently result in flow patterns around topological defects that resemble the ones observed in active systems. Our simulations further show the possibility of extensile- and contractile-like motion of fluctuation-induced positive half-integer topological defects. Remarkably, isotropic stress fields also reproduce the experimentally measured stress patterns around topological defects in epithelia. Our findings further reveal that extensile- or contractile-like flow and stress patterns around fluctuation-induced defects are governed by passive elastic stresses and flow-aligning behavior of the nematics. |
