Transport of passive particles in active nematic films

Suspended particles offer a means to measure transport and rheological properties in many turbulent flows in industrial, natural, and biological settings. A class of biologically inspired fluids, called active nematics, offer self-driven and spontaneous flowing properties, resulting in disorderly flows at low Reynolds numbers, called active turbulence. We study passive particles suspended in an active nematic film via a coarse-grained MPCD algorithm. We report how coupling to the nematic order and activity endows the passive particles with effective self-propulsion. To make connections to experimental systems, we consider the role played by coupling to the nematic field. By tracing their Lagrangian trajectories, we quantify the dynamical behaviours of the passive solutes, which we compare to the dynamics of particles suspended in traditional scale-invariant turbulence. These numerical results may shed light on the interplay between passive and active constituents in hybrid systems and offer insight into the design of autonomous micro devices composed of passive components powered by active environments.