Three-dimensional active turbulence in microswimmer suspensions: simulations and modelling

Active turbulence is a paradigmatic and fascinating example of self-organized motion at large scales occurring in active matter. We employ massive hydrodynamic simulations of suspensions of resolved model microswimmers to tackle the phenomenon in semi-diluted conditions at a mesoscopic level. We measure the kinetic energy spectrum and find that it decays as k-3 over a range of interme- diate wavenumbers. The velocity distributions are of L´evy type, a distinct difference with inertial turbulence. Furthermore, we propose a reduced order dynamical deterministic model for active turbulence, inspired to shell models for classical turbulence, whose numerical and analytical study confirms the spectrum power-law observed in the simulations and reveals hints of a non-Gaussian, intermittent, physics of active turbulence. Direct numerical simulations and modelling also agree in pointing to a phenomenological picture whereby, in the absence of an energy cascade `a la Richardson forbidden by the low Reynolds number regime, it is the coupling between fluid velocity gradients and bacterial orientation that gives rise to a multiscale dynamics.