title: Collective stop-and-go dynamics of active bacteria swarms.
abstract: We set up a macroscopic model of bacterial growth and transport based on a dynamic preferred direction-the collective velocity of the bacteria. This collective velocity is subject to the isotropic-nematic transition modeling the density-controlled transformation between immotile and motile bacterial states. The choice of the dynamic preferred direction introduces a distinctive coupling of orientational ordering and transport not encountered otherwise. The approach can also be applied to other systems spontaneously switching between individual (disordered) and collective (ordered) behavior and/or collectively responding to density variations, e.g., bird flocks, fish schools, etc. We observe a characteristic and robust stop-and-go behavior. The inclusion of chirality results in a complex pulsating dynamics.
authors: Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Svenšek
authors: Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, Post Office Box 3148, 55021 Mainz, Germany.
authors: Harald
authors: H
authors: Pleiner
authors: Theoretische Physik III, Universität Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors: Helmut R
authors: HR
authors: Brand
mesh_terms: D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D008954:Models, Biological; D009068:Movement