Dr. Brato Chakrabarti (Flatiron Institute, New York)
Abstract: An important class of microscale fluid-structure interactions in physics and biology involves the interactions and deformations of flexible elastica, both passive and active, with ambient fluid flows. Examples include the swimming of microorganisms using internally actuated cilia or flagella and the transport of material by the coordinated action of ciliary carpets. I will discuss two problems concerning the dynamics of passive and active fibers in flows. First, I will talk about the novel buckling instabilities and complex shapes of single actin polymers in simple flows and their importance in the rheology of complex fluids. I will then discuss a biophysical model of a spontaneously beating cilium that incorporates various details of their microscopic physics. Using this model, I will illustrate how beds of beating cilia self-organize to form large-scale metachronal waves that help in fluid transport. This work has implications for understanding fundamental biological problems, such as vertebrate symmetry-breaking.
Bio: Dr. Brato Chakrabarti is a Research Fellow in the Center for Computational Biology (CCB) at Flatiron Institute, New York. Before joining Flatiron, he obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC San Diego, advised by Professor David Saintillan. Dr. Brato Chakrabarti primarily works on developing theoretical and computational tools to study fluid-structure interactions in Stokes flow relevant for various biophysical problems.
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