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Efficiencies of self-propulsion at low Reynolds number

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2006

Alfred Shapere  and
Frank Wilczek
Alfred Shapere
Affiliation:
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton NJ 08540, USA
Frank Wilczek
Affiliation:
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
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Abstract

We study the effeciencies of swimming motions due to small deformations of spherical and cylindrical bodies at low Reynolds number. A notion of efficiency is defined and used to determine optimal swimming strokes. These strkes are composed of propagating waves, symmetric about the axis of propulsion.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 198 , January 1989 , pp. 587 - 599
Copyright
1989 Cambridge University Press

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References

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