Hydrodynamics of a Micro-Hunter: Chemotactic Scenario

Abstract

Inspired by bacterial chemotaxis we propose a hydrodynamic molecular scale hunter that can swim and find its target. The system is essentially a stochastic low Reynolds swimmer with ability to move in two dimensional space and sense the local value of the chemical concentration emitted by a target. We show that by adjusting the geometrical and dynamical variables of the swimmer we can always achieve a swimmer that can navigate and search for the region with higher concentration of a chemical emitted from a source. The system discussed here can also be considered as a theoretical framework for describing the bacterial chemotaxis.