%0 Journal Article
%T Flagellar swimmers oscillate between pusher- and puller-type swimming
%A Gary S. Klindt
%A Benjamin M. Friedrich
%J Quantitative Biology
%D 2015
%I arXiv
%X Self-propulsion of cellular microswimmers generates flow signatures, commonly classified as pusher- and puller-type, which characterize hydrodynamic interactions with other cells or boundaries. Using experimentally measured beat patterns, we compute that flagellated alga and sperm oscillate between pusher and puller. Beyond a typical distance of 100 um from the swimmer, inertia attenuates oscillatory micro-flows. We show that hydrodynamic interactions between swimmers oscillate in time and are of similar magnitude as stochastic swimming fluctuations.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1504.05775v1