GALCIT Colloquium

Active particles are self-driven objects, biological or otherwise, which convert stored or ambient energy into systematic motion. The motion of small active particles in Newtonian fluids has received considerable attention, with interest ranging from phoretic propulsion to biological locomotion, whereas studies on active bodies immersed in complex fluids are comparatively scarce. In this talk I will discuss a theoretical formalism for understanding the motion of small active particles in Newtonian and complex fluids, and then discuss the effects of viscosity gradients, viscoelasticity and shear-thinning rheology in the context of biological locomotion, nonlinear micro-rheology and the control of active matter.