Dynamics of bacterial flow: Emergence of spatiotemporal coherent structures

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple particle-based model demonstrating how bacterial-like coherent structures such as jets and swirls can spontaneously form from microscopic interactions and particle shape at high densities.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal model showing the emergence of spatiotemporal structures from particle shape and interactions, aligning with experimental observations.

Findings

Coherent structures emerge at high particle densities.

Structures resemble those observed in bacterial baths.

Model captures key features of bacterial collective behavior.

Abstract

We propose a simple model of self-propelled particles to show that coherent structures, such as jets and swirls, can arise from a plausible microscopic mechanisms: (i) the elongated shape of the self-propelled particles with (ii) the hardcore interactions among them. We demonstrate via computer simulation that these coherent structures, which emerge at sufficiently high densities of particles, have characteristics that are similar to those observed in recent experiments in bacteria baths.