TY - JOUR T1 - Spontaneous division and motility in active nematic droplets Y1 - 2014 A1 - Luca Giomi A1 - Antonio DeSimone AB - We investigate the mechanics of an active droplet endowed with internal nematic order and surrounded by an isotropic Newtonian fluid. Using numerical simulations we demonstrate that, due to the interplay between the active stresses and the defective geometry of the nematic director, this system exhibits two of the fundamental functions of living cells: spontaneous division and motility, by means of self-generated hydrodynamic flows. These behaviors can be selectively activated by controlling a single physical parameter, namely, an active variant of the capillary number. PB - American Physical Society UR - http://urania.sissa.it/xmlui/handle/1963/34902 U1 - 35107 U2 - Mathematics U4 - 1 ER -