Active hydrodynamics of bacterial suspensions (Eric Clément, PMMH-ESPCI, Paris)

From the hydrodynamics point of view, assemblies of microscopic swimmers dispersed in a fluid, at very low Reynolds number, display emergent properties differing strongly from those of passive suspensions. In the laboratory, we use E-Coli bacteria to address several of these fundamental problems and revisit statistical mechanics issues such as Brownian diffusivity, shear viscosity and hydrodynamic dispersion in confined environments. In this presentation, I will address in particular, the question of bacterial organization under flow and its impact on transport hydrodynamic properties.