Decision-making at a T-junction by gradient-sensing microscopic agents
| Autor: | Massimo Vergassola, Tanvi Gandhi, Jinzi Mac Huang, Jeremie Palacci, Sophie Ramananarivo, Antoine Aubret, Yaocheng Li |
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| Přispěvatelé: | University of California [San Diego] (UC San Diego), University of California, Laboratoire d'hydrodynamique (LadHyX), École polytechnique (X)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de l'ENS (LPTENS), Fédération de recherche du Département de physique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure - ENS Paris (FRDPENS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
Physics [PHYS]Physics [physics] Computational Mechanics 02 engineering and technology 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology 01 natural sciences Living systems Discontinuity (linguistics) Modeling and Simulation Diffusiophoresis 0103 physical sciences Path (graph theory) Shortest path problem Particle First-hitting-time model 010306 general physics 0210 nano-technology Biological system T junction |
| Zdroj: | Physical Review Fluids Physical Review Fluids, American Physical Society, 2020, 5 (10), ⟨10.1103/physrevfluids.5.104202⟩ |
| ISSN: | 2469-990X |
| Popis: | International audience; Active navigation relies on effectively extracting information from the surrounding environment, and often features the tracking of gradients of a relevant signal-such as the concentration of molecules. Microfluidic networks of closed pathways pose the challenge of determining the shortest exit pathway, which involves the proper local decision-making at each bifurcating junction. Here, we focus on the basic decision faced at a T-junction by a microscopic particle, which orients among possible paths via its sensing of a diffusible substance's concentration. We study experimentally the navigation of colloidal particles following concentration gradients by diffusiophoresis. We treat the situation as a mean first passage time (MFPT) problem that unveils the important role of a separatrix in the concentration field to determine the statistics of path taking. Further, we use numerical experiments to study different strategies, including biomimetic ones such as run and tumble or Markovian chemotactic migration. The discontinuity in the MFPT at the junction makes it remarkably difficult for microscopic agents to follow the shortest path, irrespective of adopted navigation strategy. In contrast, increasing the size of the sensing agents improves the efficiency of short-path taking by harvesting information on a larger scale. It inspires the development of a run-and-whirl dynamics that takes advantage of the mathematical properties of harmonic functions to emulate particles beyond their own size. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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