Defect turbulence in a dense suspension of polar, active swimmers.

We study the effects of inertia in dense suspensions of polar swimmers. The hydrodynamic velocity field and the polar order parameter field describe the dynamics of the suspension. We show that a dimensionless parameter R (ratio of the swimmer self-advection speed to the active stress invasion speed [Phys.

Controllable growth of interpenetrating or random copolymer networks.

Interpenetrating and random copolymer networks are vital in a number of industrial applications, including the fabrication of automotive parts, damping materials, and tissue engineering scaffolds. We develop a theoretical model for a process that enables the controlled growth of interpenetrating network (IPNs), or a random copolymer network (RCN) of specified size and mechanical properties. In this process, a primary gel "seed" is immersed into a solution containing the secondary monomer and crosslinkers.

Front structure and dynamics in dense colonies of motile bacteria: Role of active turbulence.

We study the spreading of a bacterial colony undergoing turbulentlike collective motion. We present two minimalistic models to investigate the interplay between population growth and coherent structures arising from turbulence. Using direct numerical simulation of the proposed models we find that turbulence has two prominent effects on the spatial growth of the colony: (a) the front speed is enhanced, and (b) the front gets crumpled.