|
There have been many efforts in recent years to create self-propelled swimmers (SPS) in various physical and chemical conditions. I will present our recent experimental works on micro-sized SPS regarding their individual and collective dynamics. I will propose a set of simple but fundamental questions on SPS in my talk. What is the minimum size limit for useful locomotion by SPS? What determines the minimum limit for SPP? Small self-propelling objects are inevitably confronted with thermal fluctuations. How does the ordered motion appear out of thermal fluctuations in small SPP? Is it possible to make use of thermal fluctuations for self-propulsion, supposing that the information on fluctuation and feedback control are available? I will also discuss a new way to control interactions between SPSs and show interesting collective dynamics of SPSs.
Reference: 1) H.-R. Jiang, N. Yoshinaga, M. Sano, Active Motion of Janus Particle by Self-thermophoresis in Defocused Laser Beam, Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol. 105, 268302 (2010). 2) S. Toyabe, T. Sagawa, M. Ueda, E. Muneyuki, and M. Sano, Experimental demonstration of information-to-energy conversion and validation of the generalized Jarzynski equality, Nature Physics 6, 988 (2010). 3) H.-R. Jiang and M. Sano, in preparation. |
|