Young Researchers Workshop: Stochastic and deterministic methods in kinetic theory

Modeling and simulation of active liquid crystals with applications in cell mitosis

Jia Zhao

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Active liquid crystals solutions and gels are complex fluids whose anisotropic molecules undergo self-propelled motion by either burning ATP or reacting with the host matrix. The self-propelled motion introduces new active stresses to the momentum balance together with self-propelled velocity, which can lead to spontaneous flows and symmetry breaking flow patterns. In this talk, I will present how to model active liquid crystal solutions using continuum theory. Then, I will show numerical results of free surface flows of active liquid crystals. Finally, I will discuss the employment of this active liquid crystal model in the development of a whole cell model to simulatie cell mitosis and motility. 3D numerical simulations of cytokinesis and cell motion will be presented.