The phase separation of oil and water is a classic example of a process ubiquitous in nature, in which mixtures separate into their constituent parts. Scientists have also repeatedly identified biomolecular droplets in cells that originate from the phase-separation of proteins and nucleic acids. These droplets play various vital roles in cells where, for example, they create a local environment for chemical reactions, and are responsible for the midcell localization of proteins during cell division.
Self-centering and oscillations. (a) Droplet center trajectories in simulations for different values of M; symbols indicate the position in the diagram shown in Fig. 2. The droplet center is initially at x d (0)=−l 0 in a domain of size L=3l 0 . (b) Decay rate (black dots) and frequency (red dots) as functions of M, obtained by fitting the respective droplet trajectories. Red triangle indicates overdamped regime. (c) Relaxation rate λ as a function of k 1 (bottom axis), for Mε 0 /D=10 and x d (0)=−0.3l 0 . Top axis relates the domain size to the length scale of the concentration profiles. The analytical predictions (blue line) in the quasi-steady-state approximation match our simulations (black dots). Credit: Physical Review Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.128401 A team led by LMU physicist…