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SUMMARY:The synchronised state of actively beating cilia: collective dynam
 ical patterns emerge out of noise. - Dr Pietro Cicuta (University of Cambr
 idge)
DTSTART:20140605T110000Z
DTEND:20140605T120000Z
UID:TALK52642@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Salvatore Tesoro
DESCRIPTION:For a few years we have been studying a biologically motivated
  problem: in a variety of organisms\, there are actively beating filaments
  that coordinate amongst each other to exert an optimal fluid transport\, 
 or swimming efficiency.  This coordination comes from mechanical forces\, 
 through the fluid\, and in some situations possibly through the cell mediu
 m. These stress fields are long ranged\, typically decaying only with inve
 rse distance\, hence the system is many-body.    The filaments can be thou
 ght of as driven oscillators\, in an overdamped regime.   However the comp
 lex internal degrees of freedom make the filament activity very non-linear
 .  The lengthscales are such that thermal noise is important.\n  These ele
 ments combine together to give rich phenomenology. First\, if one ignores 
 thermal noise\, then the long range coupling gives rise to synchronisation
 \, and the key elements that set the patters in the dynamics are the geome
 try of the system\, and the details of how oscillators are driven.    Then
 \, considering noise\, there are interesting transitions with the loss of 
 synchronisation.\n  We have looked at these systems with a combination of 
 experiement (using optical traps)\, numerical simulation (Brownian dynamic
 s) and theory (typically neglecting noise)\,  but many questions remain op
 en.\n  In this informal talk I aim to present this area\, overview what we
  have done\, and highlight what we don't understand.
LOCATION:TCM Seminar room\, 530 Mott building
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