Swarming in viscous fluids: three-dimensional patterns in swimmer- and force-induced flows

Abstract

We derive from first principles a three-dimensional theory of self-propelled particle swarming in a viscous fluid environment. Our model predicts emergent collective behavior that depends critically on fluid opacity, mechanism of self-propulsion, and type of particle-particle interaction. In "clear fluids" swimmers have full knowledge of their surroundings and can adjust their velocities with respect to the lab frame, while in "opaque fluids," they control their velocities only in relation to the local fluid flow. We also show that "social" interactions that affect only a particle's propensity to swim towards or away from neighbors induces a flow field that is qualitatively different from the long-ranged flow fields generated by direct "physical" interactions. The latter can be short-ranged but lead to much longer-ranged fluid-mediated hydrodynamic forces, effectively amplifying the range over which particles interact. These different fluid flows conspire to profoundly affect swarm morphology, kinetically stabilizing or destabilizing swarm configurations that would arise in the absence of fluid. Depending upon the overall interaction potential, the mechanism of swimming (e.g., pushers or pullers), and the degree of fluid opaqueness, we discover a number of new collective three-dimensional patterns including flocks with prolate or oblate shapes, recirculating peloton-like structures, and jet-like fluid flows that entrain particles mediating their escape from the center of mill-like structures. Our results reveal how the interplay among general physical elements influence fluid-mediated interactions and the self-organization, mobility, and stability of new three-dimensional swarms and suggest how they might be used to kinetically control their collective behavior.