Mimicking swarming of Myxobacteria: collective behavior of active Brownian particles with rod-shape

Fernando Peruani

MPI PKS, Nöthnitzer Str. 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany

Myxobacteria have a membrane-bound signal (non-diffusing signal). Nevertheless these bacteria exhibit a great variety of patterns. During the so called 'swarming phase' it is believed that signaling among cells almost doesn't exist but still it is observed collective migration of bacteria. We mimic Myxobacteria in this stage as interacting active Brownian particles with rod-shape. Particles interact through a repulsive potential that penalizes particle overlapping. In order to understand how rod-shape and active motion affect the collective behavior, we compare self-propelled and merely noise-driven particles and we explore systems of particles with different length-width ratio.