A simple self-organized swimmer driven by molecular motors

Saarland University, Department of Physics, Campus E2 6 - 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany, EU and Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems - Nöthnitzer Str. 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany, EU

Corresponding author: stefan.guenther@physik.uni-saarland.de

Received: 16 June 2008
Accepted: 13 November 2008

Abstract

We investigate a self-organized swimmer at low Reynolds numbers. The microscopic swimmer is composed of three spheres that are connected by two identical active linker arms. Each linker arm contains molecular motors and elastic elements and can oscillate spontaneously. We find that such a system immersed in a viscous fluid can self-organize into a state of directed swimming. The swimmer provides a simple system to study important aspects of the swimming of micro-organisms.