Langevin Navier-Stokes simulation of protoplasmic streaming by 2D MAC method

Abstract

We study protoplasmic streaming in plant cells such as chara brauni by simplifying the flow field to a two-dimensional Couette flow with Brownian random motion inside parallel plates. Protoplasmic streaming is receiving a lot of attention in many areas, such as agriculture-technology and biotechnology. The plant size depends on the velocity of streaming and the driving force originating in molecular motors. Therefore, it is interesting to study detailed information on the velocity of streaming. Recently, experimentally observed peaks in the velocity distribution have been simulated by a 2D Langevin Navier-Stokes (LNS) equation for vortex and flow function. However, to simulate actual 3D flows, we have to use the NS equation for velocity, which, in the case of 2D flows, is not always equivalent to that for vorticity and stream function. In this paper, we report that a 2D LNS equation for velocity and pressure successfully simulates protoplasmic streaming by comparing the results with the experimental data and those obtained by 2D LNS simulations for vortex and flow function. Moreover, a dimensional analysis clarifies the dependence of numerical results on the strength $D$ of Brownian random force and physical parameters such as kinematic viscosity and cell size. We find from this analysis how the peak position in normalized velocity distribution moves depending on these parameters.