Spatio-temporal pattern formation in reaction-diffusion-advection-mechanics (RDAM) systems
04/2014- 09/2018
Förderung
RDAM systems include active fluids where mechanical stress involves an active component that is controlled by one or more chemical regulator species which obey reaction-diffusion-advection equations. The project builds on previous work describing pattern formation in non-moving circular droplets with fixed boundaries. The existing model shall be extended to allow for motion of the droplet. This will be achieved by considering the cytoplasm as a viscoelastic fluid and by introducing moving boundary conditions. Phase-field methods will be applied as effective computational alternative to a model with a sharp interface. The model aims at the description of the dynamics of moving protoplasmic droplets of Physarum polycephalum and shall be compared to experimental observations in this system.
Partner
- Prof. Harald Engel, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Technical University of Berlin