Cooperation of Sperm in Two Dimensions: Synchronization, Attraction and Aggregation through Hydrodynamic Interactions

Yang, Y.; Elgeti, J.; Gompper, G.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.78.061903

Journal Article

Cooperation of Sperm in Two Dimensions: Synchronization, Attraction and Aggregation through Hydrodynamic Interactions

Yang, Y.FZJ* ; Elgeti, J.FZJ* ; Gompper, G.FZJ*

2008
APS College Park, Md.

Physical review / E 78(6), 061903 (2008) [10.1103/PhysRevE.78.061903]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/9336 doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.78.061903

Abstract: Sperm swimming at low Reynolds number have strong hydrodynamic interactions when their concentration is high in vivo or near substrates in vitro. The beating tails not only propel the sperm through a fluid, but also create flow fields through which sperm interact with each other. We study the hydrodynamic interaction and cooperation of sperm embedded in a two-dimensional fluid by using a particle-based mesoscopic simulation method, multiparticle collision dynamics. We analyze the sperm behavior by investigating the relationship between the beating-phase difference and the relative sperm position, as well as the energy consumption. Two effects of hydrodynamic interaction are found, synchronization and attraction. With these hydrodynamic effects, a multisperm system shows swarm behavior with a power-law dependence of the average cluster size on the width of the distribution of beating frequencies.

Keyword(s): J ; aggregation (auto) ; biological fluid dynamics (auto) ; cellular biophysics (auto) ; hydrodynamics (auto) ; synchronisation (auto)

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Note: We thank U. Benjamin Kaupp, Luis Alvarez (CAESAR Bonn), and Luru Dai (INB-1, Research Center Julich) for stimulating discussions and sharing of their experimental data. Y. Y. acknowledges financial support by the International Helmholtz Research School on Biophysics and Soft Matter ("BioSoft").

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