Hydrodynamic Interactions in Colloidal and Biological Systems

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2006 in the subject Physics - Theoretical Physics, grade: summa cum laude, University of Constance, language: English, abstract: Colloids are widely considered as model systems to elucidate fundamental processes in atomic systems. However, there is one feature truly specific to colloidal suspensions that distinguishes them fundamentally from atomic systems: hydrodynamic interactions, which can lead to fascinating collective behavior.In this thesis, we present analytical work and simulation results for several micron-scale colloidal and biological systems where the dynamics is predominantly governed by hydrodynamic interactions.