Kenny Breuer

Flagellated bacteria, such as E. Coli, propel themselves using multiple flagella - long, thin helical filaments -  that are rotated using nanoscale motors.  We will discuss a few  aspects of the mechanics associated with bacterial motility, studied using scale modeling, numerical simulations and microscale experiments. The phenomena explored include the swimming speed of cells in viscous and viscoelastic media, the flow fields associated with helical motion of the flagella,  and models for flagella synchronization and bundling due to hydrodynamic interactions between elastic filaments.