Self-organization in Chiral Gliding Filaments
Abstract
Filamentous cyanobacteria form extensive kilometer-scale mats in aquatic environments, yet the physical mechanisms driving their macroscopic self-organization remain elusive. Here, we investigate the dynamics of filamentous cyanobacterial assemblies within a quasi-two-dimensional confinement. Our observations reveal that chiral gliding drives active tangling between individual filaments, inducing rapid network contraction and the formation of densely packed aggregates. By quantifying single-contact forces, we demonstrate that these mechanical interactions generate significant contractile stresses. Together, our findings sug- gest that chiral gliding has evolved as a physical mechanism to maximize inter-filament interactions and drive large-scale collective organization.
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BibTeX
@misc{son2026selforganization,
title = {{Self-organization in Chiral Gliding Filaments}},
author = {Josue Yaedalm Son and Hyejeong Kim and Vahid Nasirimarekan},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.10099},
eprint = {2610.10099},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.10099},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Self-organization in Chiral Gliding Filaments
AU - Josue Yaedalm Son
AU - Hyejeong Kim
AU - Vahid Nasirimarekan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.10099
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.10099
AB - Filamentous cyanobacteria form extensive kilometer-scale mats in aquatic environments, yet the physical mechanisms driving their macroscopic self-organization remain elusive. Here, we investigate the dynamics of filamentous cyanobacterial assemblies within a quasi-two-dimensional confinement. Our observations reveal that chiral gliding drives active tangling between individual filaments, inducing rapid network contraction and the formation of densely packed aggregates. By quantifying single-contact forces, we demonstrate that these mechanical interactions generate significant contractile stresses. Together, our findings sug- gest that chiral gliding has evolved as a physical mechanism to maximize inter-filament interactions and drive large-scale collective organization.
ER -