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Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 068102 (2009) [4 pages]

Steering Chiral Swimmers along Noisy Helical Paths

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Benjamin M. Friedrich and Frank Jülicher*
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Straße 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany

Received 3 March 2009; published 6 August 2009

Chemotaxis along helical paths towards a target releasing a chemoattractant is found in sperm cells and many microorganisms. We discuss the stochastic differential geometry of the noisy helical swimming path of a chiral swimmer. A chiral swimmer equipped with a simple feedback system can navigate in a concentration gradient of chemoattractant. We derive an effective equation for the alignment of helical paths with a concentration gradient which is related to the alignment of a dipole in an external field and discuss the chemotaxis index.

© 2009 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.068102
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.068102
PACS:
87.17.Jj, 02.50.Fz, 87.18.Tt

*julicher@pks.mpg.de