A combined effect of rigid top surface with diffuse and oblique collimated irradiation on the stability of the suspension of phototactic microorganisms

Abstract

This article explores how a rigid top surface with diffuse and oblique collimated irradiation affect isotropic scattering algal suspensions. When the fluid flow becomes zero, the suspension reaches a steady (basic) state where up-and-down swimming occurs due to interplay of phototaxis and diffusion. For purely scattering suspensions, a bimodal steady state occurs due to scattering, which reverts to a unimodal steady state as the angle of incidence increases with fixed other governing parameters. To check the linear stability of the suspension, a small perturbation to the basic state are considered and the perturbed equations are solved by using the Newton-Raphson-Kantorovich (NRK) iterative method. The linear stability of the same suspension predicts both stable and oscillatory nature of disturbance for specific parameter ranges. A rigid top surface, as well as diffuse and oblique collimated irradiation, make the suspension more stable.