Scale-dependent co-localization in a population of gyrotactic swimmers

TL;DR

This study investigates how variability in swimming parameters affects the small-scale clustering of gyrotactic swimmers in turbulent flows, revealing a characteristic scale where distribution shifts from homogeneous to fractal.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of a scale $R^*$ influenced by population variability, extending previous monodisperse models to polydisperse populations through numerical simulations.

Findings

A characteristic scale $R^*$ exists where clustering behavior changes.

$R^*$ scales linearly with the population's parameter dispersion.

Small-scale fractal clustering is observable in laboratory conditions.

Abstract

We study the small scale clustering of gyrotactic swimmers transported by a turbulent flow, when the intrinsic variability of the swimming parameters within the population is considered. By means of extensive numerical simulations, we find that the variety of the population introduces a characteristic scale $R^*$ in its spatial distribution. At scales smaller than $R^*$ the swimmers are homogeneously distributed, while at larger scales an inhomogeneous distribution is observed with a fractal dimension close to what observed for a monodisperse population characterized by mean parameters. The scale $R^*$ depends on the dispersion of the population and it is found to scale linearly with the standard deviation both for a bimodal and for a Gaussian distribution. Our numerical results, which extend recent findings for a monodisperse population, indicate that in principle it is possible to observe small scale, fractal clustering in a laboratory experiment with gyrotactic cells.