Conformation and dynamics of active filaments under confinement
Biological filaments are ubiquitous in cells and are responsible for numerous fundamental biological processes, from replication to cell locomotion. The interplay between elastic and entropic driving forces under different confinement types such as membranous compartments or cell walls affects their structural arrangement and dynamics significantly [1]. For example, confinement can promote uniform in narrow slits, but it can also introduce long-ranged disruptions of the nematic ordering field through (unavoidable) topological defects in spherical containers. However, effect of out of equilibrium active force [2] on self-organization of filaments under confinement has not been investigated.
In this project, you will be performing systematic Brownian dynamics simulations of 2D semiflexible active chains (bead-spring models) of varying degrees of activity and flexibility under circular and slit confinement. You will investigate the effect of degree of confinement on the shape and dynamics of active filaments.
References
- A. Nikoubashman, The Journal of Chemical Physics 154, 090901 (2021)
- The physics of active polymers and filaments, Roland G. Winkler and Gerhard Gompper ,J. Chem. Phys. 153, 040901 (2020)
Contact
Dr. Sara Jabbari-Farouji s.jabbarifarouji@uva.nl at University of Amsterdam. You will be working in interdisciplinary computational soft matter lab.