Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 068102 (2008) [4 pages]Shearing Active Gels Close to the Isotropic-Nematic TransitionReceived 20 March 2008; published 8 August 2008 We study numerically the rheological properties of a slab of active gel close to the isotropic-nematic transition. The flow behavior shows a strong dependence on the sample size, boundary conditions, and on the bulk constitutive curve, which, on entering the nematic phase, acquires an activity-induced discontinuity at the origin. The precursor of this within the metastable isotropic phase for contractile systems (e.g., actomyosin gels) gives a viscosity divergence; its counterpart for extensile suspensions admits instead a shear-banded flow with zero apparent viscosity. © 2008 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.068102
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.068102
PACS:
87.10.−e, 47.50.−d, 47.63.Gd, 83.60.Fg
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