Optimal Swimming at low Reynolds numbers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new metric called 'swimming drag coefficient' to evaluate and compare the efficiency of micro-scale swimmers at low Reynolds numbers, and identifies the optimal swimmer within a specific class using conformal mappings.

Contribution

It proposes a novel efficiency metric and applies conformal mapping techniques to determine the optimal swimmer in a defined class at low Reynolds numbers.

Findings

Introduction of the 'swimming drag coefficient' for ranking swimmers

Identification of the optimal swimmer within a class using conformal mappings

Provides a framework for comparing micro-scale swimming efficiencies

Abstract

Efficient swimming at low Reynolds numbers is a major concern of microbots. To compare the efficiencies of different swimmers we introduce the notion of ``swimming drag coefficient'' which allows for the ranking of swimmers. We find the optimal swimmer within a certain class of two dimensional swimmers using conformal mappings techniques.