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arXiv · 1711.10272

Density Dependent Cohesion Leads to Controlled Phase Separation in Brownian Suspensions

Gavin Melaugh·Davide Marenduzzo·Alexander Morozov·Rosalind J. Allen
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Abstract

Mechanical interactions between biological cells may be mediated by secreted products, making them dependent on the local particle density. Here, we explore the generic physics of density-dependent attractive interactions. We show using Brownian dynamics simulations that density-dependent interactions can produce interesting phase separation behaviour including control of aggregate size during a spinodal decomposition-like separation process. We show that these results are generic using continuum modelling of the appropriate Cahn-Hilliard equation. Our study suggests that density-dependent interactions can provide a generic mechanism for control of aggregate size during phase separation.

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Gavin Melaugh, Davide Marenduzzo, Alexander Morozov, Rosalind J. Allen. 2017-11-28. Density Dependent Cohesion Leads to Controlled Phase Separation in Brownian Suspensions. https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10272

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