Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gupta, Subhajit, Chaudhuri, Debasish, Dey, Supravat
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.07681
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914345308389376
author Gupta, Subhajit
Chaudhuri, Debasish
Dey, Supravat
author_facet Gupta, Subhajit
Chaudhuri, Debasish
Dey, Supravat
contents Cilia and flagella are micron-sized filaments that actively beat with remarkable precision in a viscous medium, driving microorganism movement and efficient flow. We study the rower model to uncover how cilia activity and dissipation enable this precise motion. In this model, cilia motion is represented by a micro-bead's Brownian movement between two distant harmonic potentials. At specific locations, energy pumps trigger potential switches, capturing cilia activity and generating oscillations. We quantify precision of oscillation using a quality factor, identifying its scaling with activity and oscillation amplitude, finding precision maximization at an optimal amplitude. The data collapse is not accurate for noisy oscillations. An exact analytic expression for the precision quality factor, based on first passage time fluctuations, and derived in the small noise approximation, explains its optimality and scaling. Energy budget analysis shows the quality factor's consistency with the thermodynamic uncertainty relation. Finally, we demonstrate that asymmetric beating reduces oscillation precision compared to the symmetric model: although the optimal amplitude remains unchanged, the overall scaling of the quality factor depends explicitly on the asymmetry parameter.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_07681
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Role of activity and dissipation in achieving precise beating in cilia: Insights from the rower model
Gupta, Subhajit
Chaudhuri, Debasish
Dey, Supravat
Soft Condensed Matter
Cilia and flagella are micron-sized filaments that actively beat with remarkable precision in a viscous medium, driving microorganism movement and efficient flow. We study the rower model to uncover how cilia activity and dissipation enable this precise motion. In this model, cilia motion is represented by a micro-bead's Brownian movement between two distant harmonic potentials. At specific locations, energy pumps trigger potential switches, capturing cilia activity and generating oscillations. We quantify precision of oscillation using a quality factor, identifying its scaling with activity and oscillation amplitude, finding precision maximization at an optimal amplitude. The data collapse is not accurate for noisy oscillations. An exact analytic expression for the precision quality factor, based on first passage time fluctuations, and derived in the small noise approximation, explains its optimality and scaling. Energy budget analysis shows the quality factor's consistency with the thermodynamic uncertainty relation. Finally, we demonstrate that asymmetric beating reduces oscillation precision compared to the symmetric model: although the optimal amplitude remains unchanged, the overall scaling of the quality factor depends explicitly on the asymmetry parameter.
title Role of activity and dissipation in achieving precise beating in cilia: Insights from the rower model
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.07681