Turbulence of swarming sperm

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2015 Sep;92(3):032722. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.92.032722. Epub 2015 Sep 23.

Abstract

Collective motion of self-sustained swarming flows has recently provided examples of small-scale turbulence arising where viscous effects are dominant. We report the first observation of universal enstrophy cascade in concentrated swarming sperm consistent with a body of evidence built from various independent measurements. We found a well-defined k^{-3} power-law decay of a velocity field power spectrum and relative dispersion of small beads consistent with theoretical predictions in 2D turbulence. Concentrated living sperm displays long-range, correlated whirlpool structures of a size that provides an integral scale of turbulence. We propose a consistent explanation for this quasi-2D turbulence based on self-structured laminated flow forced by steric interactions and alignment, a state of active matter that we call "swarming liquid crystal." We develop scaling arguments consistent with this interpretation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Animals
  • Fluorescence
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Male
  • Models, Biological
  • Motion*
  • Rheology
  • Sheep
  • Spermatozoa*
  • Video Recording
  • Viscosity