Scallop theorem and swimming at the mesoscale
In: Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society: Woodbury, N.Y., etc.. ISSN 0031-9007; e-ISSN 1079-7114, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Hubert, M.
- Trosman, O.
- Collard, Y.
- Sukhov, A.
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- Harting, J.
- Vandewalle, N.
- Smith, A.-S.
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| Abstract |
By comparing theoretical modeling, simulations, and experiments, we show that there exists a swimming regime at low Reynolds numbers solely driven by the inertia of the swimmer itself. This is demonstrated by considering a dumbbell with an asymmetry in coasting time in its two spheres. Despite deforming in a reciprocal fashion, the dumbbell swims by generating a nonreciprocal Stokesian flow, which arises from the asymmetry in coasting times. This asymmetry acts as a second degree of freedom, which allows the scallop theorem to be fulfilled at the mesoscopic scale. |
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