---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '21721'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: 'Swimming bacteria move through a fluid by actuating their moving body parts.
    They are force-free and can be described as hydrodynamic force dipoles: pushers
    or pullers. This modelling description is broadly used in biological physics and
    active matter research, and it has successfully predicted, for example, the superfluid
    behaviour of suspensions of pushers or the bend instability and emergence of turbulent
    flows in active nematics. However, this description accounts only for the translational
    motion of the swimming body and neglects the effects of hydrodynamic torque dipoles,
    which are relevant to bacteria with rotary motor-driven flagella, such as swimming
    Escherichia coli. Here we show that the torque dipole of confined swimming E.
    coli can power the persistent rotation of symmetric discs. The torque dipole leads
    to a traction force on the discs, an additive mechanism that is both contactless
    and independent of the orientation of the bacteria. Our results indicate that
    the torque dipole of swimming E. coli is notable in confined geometries, which
    is relevant to bacterial transport through porous materials, biofilms and the
    development of chiral fluids.'
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: NanoFab
- _id: EM-Fac
acknowledgement: We thank E. Krasnopeeva for help with the bacterial culture, motility
  and genetic engineering. We thank Q. Martinet for help with the experimental design,
  F. Pertl for atomic force microscopy measurements and S. Hajek for the scanning
  electron microscopy imaging. This project has received funding from the European
  Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation
  programme (VULCAN, 101086998). The views and opinions expressed are, however, those
  of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or
  the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the
  granting authority can be held responsible for them. J.P. thanks the Nanofabrication
  and Electron Microscopy Shared Scientific Units of ISTA for support. Open access
  funding provided by Institute of Science and Technology (IST Austria).
article_processing_charge: Yes (via OA deal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Daniel B
  full_name: Grober, Daniel B
  id: c692f879-718d-11ee-81f0-da7caa79c783
  last_name: Grober
- first_name: Tanumoy
  full_name: Dhar, Tanumoy
  last_name: Dhar
- first_name: David
  full_name: Saintillan, David
  last_name: Saintillan
- first_name: Jérémie A
  full_name: Palacci, Jérémie A
  id: 8fb92548-2b22-11eb-b7c1-a3f0d08d7c7d
  last_name: Palacci
  orcid: 0000-0002-7253-9465
citation:
  ama: Grober DB, Dhar T, Saintillan D, Palacci JA. The hydrodynamic torque dipole
    from rotary bacterial flagella powers symmetric discs. <i>Nature Physics</i>.
    2026. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4">10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4</a>
  apa: Grober, D. B., Dhar, T., Saintillan, D., &#38; Palacci, J. A. (2026). The hydrodynamic
    torque dipole from rotary bacterial flagella powers symmetric discs. <i>Nature
    Physics</i>. Springer Nature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4</a>
  chicago: Grober, Daniel B, Tanumoy Dhar, David Saintillan, and Jérémie A Palacci.
    “The Hydrodynamic Torque Dipole from Rotary Bacterial Flagella Powers Symmetric
    Discs.” <i>Nature Physics</i>. Springer Nature, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4</a>.
  ieee: D. B. Grober, T. Dhar, D. Saintillan, and J. A. Palacci, “The hydrodynamic
    torque dipole from rotary bacterial flagella powers symmetric discs,” <i>Nature
    Physics</i>. Springer Nature, 2026.
  ista: Grober DB, Dhar T, Saintillan D, Palacci JA. 2026. The hydrodynamic torque
    dipole from rotary bacterial flagella powers symmetric discs. Nature Physics.
  mla: Grober, Daniel B., et al. “The Hydrodynamic Torque Dipole from Rotary Bacterial
    Flagella Powers Symmetric Discs.” <i>Nature Physics</i>, Springer Nature, 2026,
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4">10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4</a>.
  short: D.B. Grober, T. Dhar, D. Saintillan, J.A. Palacci, Nature Physics (2026).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2026-04-12T22:01:51Z
date_published: 2026-03-27T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-04-16T06:20:23Z
day: '27'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: JePa
doi: 10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4
has_accepted_license: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4
month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: bdac72da-d553-11ed-ba76-eae56e802b74
  grant_number: '101086998'
  name: 'VULCAN: matter, powered from within'
publication: Nature Physics
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1745-2481
  issn:
  - 1745-2473
publication_status: epub_ahead
publisher: Springer Nature
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: The hydrodynamic torque dipole from rotary bacterial flagella powers symmetric
  discs
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
year: '2026'
...