Aditya Jha
TCM Group, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
Interfacial instability mechanisms of proliferating chemotactic colonies
Invasion of active matter into a passive environment is the key behind biological growth and collective migration [1,2]. This complex phenomenon applies to systems as diverse as tumour cells and bacterial biofilms invading their surrounding media. This study focuses on the instability of proliferating colonies that grow by consuming nutrients from the environment. Furthermore, the individual elements exhibit chemotactic motility towards nutrient gradients described by a logarithmic sensing function. In contrast to previous studies, herein we highlight the mechanisms underlying the instability of the growing front, driven by both biological growth and motility.
[1] A. Martínez-Calvo, C. Trenado-Yuste, H. Lee, J. Gore, N. S. Wingreen, S. S. Datta, Physical Review X, 15 (1), 011016 (2025)
[2] F. Kempf, R. Mueller, E. Frey, J. M. Yeomans, A. Doostmohammadi, Soft Matter 15, 78 (2019)
