Exogenous-endogenous surfactant interaction yields heterogeneous spreading in complex branching networks

Richard Mcnair; Fernando Temprano-Coleto; François J. Peaudecerf; Frédéric Gibou; Paolo Luzzatto-Fegiz; Oliver E. Jensen; Julien R. Landel

arXiv · 2311.08133

Exogenous-endogenous surfactant interaction yields heterogeneous spreading in complex branching networks

Richard Mcnair·Fernando Temprano-Coleto·François J. Peaudecerf·Frédéric Gibou·Paolo Luzzatto-Fegiz·Oliver E. Jensen·Julien R. Landel

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Abstract

Experiments have shown that surfactant introduced to a liquid-filled maze can find the solution path. We reveal how the maze-solving dynamics arise from interactions between the added surfactant and endogenous surfactant present at the liquid surface. We simulate the dynamics using a nonlinear model solved with a discrete mimetic scheme on a graph. Endogenous surfactant transforms local spreading into a non-local problem with an omniscient view of the maze geometry, key to the maze-solving dynamics. Our results offer insight into surfactant-driven transport in complex networks such as lung airways.

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Richard Mcnair, Fernando Temprano-Coleto, François J. Peaudecerf, Frédéric Gibou, Paolo Luzzatto-Fegiz, Oliver E. Jensen, Julien R. Landel. 2023-11-14. Exogenous-endogenous surfactant interaction yields heterogeneous spreading in complex branching networks. https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.08133

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