{
  "abstract": "Accurately resolving the near-field flow generated by many swimming bacteria while retaining computational efficiency remains challenging. Stokeslet-based models with many force points can capture detailed near-field hydrodynamics but are computationally expensive. Other approaches include far-field and low-order models that use fewer points but sacrifice near-field accuracy. We introduce a reduced-order framework based on the method of regularized Stokeslets that preserves important near-field flow features while using substantially fewer force points. The method replaces the force distribution of a high-fidelity model with forces on a sparse set of points whose strengths are determined by constrained least-squares calibration to the high-fidelity velocity field of a single bacterium. The calibrated forces yield an approximation that preserves the dominant reference-flow structure while satisfying the force-free and torque-free conditions of self-propelled swimming. Principal component analysis is then used to represent the phase-dependent variation of the calibrated forces using only a few dominant modes. By fitting the corresponding modal coefficients as continuous functions of flagellar phase, the reduced-order forces can be approximated at any phase of the flagellar cycle. The framework is applied in both free space and near a no-slip planar boundary, where it preserves the dominant flow structures and captures the wall-induced redirection of the surrounding fluid. The optimized cell-body regularization parameter depends weakly on wall distance, and the remaining velocity discrepancy is concentrated primarily near the cell body. By substantially reducing the number of force points, the reduced-order model lowers both the computational cost and memory requirements of velocity-field evaluation, making large-domain simulations of multi-swimmer flow fields more practical.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.14958",
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Hoa Nguyen"
    },
    {
      "name": "William Wallace"
    },
    {
      "name": "Orrin Shindell"
    },
    {
      "name": "Frank Healy"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ricardo Cortez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bruce Rodenborn"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5czssk4qgj0hk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.14958",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "5czssk4qgj0hk",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.14958",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.flu-dyn"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.14958",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-14",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5czssk4qgj0hk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:25Z",
      "native_id": "2609.14958",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.14958"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.flu-dyn",
      "subfield": "fluid-dynamics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A Calibrated Reduced-Order Force Model for Bacterial Hydrodynamics in Free Space and Near a Planar Boundary",
  "title_text": "A Calibrated Reduced-Order Force Model for Bacterial Hydrodynamics in Free Space and Near a Planar Boundary",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:25Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5czssk4qgj0hk",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}