Self-propulsion and collective behaviour of chemically driven drops (Pattern formation in collective dynamics)

We theoretically investigate self-propelled motion of chemically driven drops. The motion is driven by hydrodynamics flow resulting from the Marangoni effect. This occurs for drops under an isotropic chemical reaction rather than the motion under a temperature and/or concentration gradient. We propose the mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking where hydrodynamics play a significant role. We summarise basic theoretical aspects of this phenomena including the reaction-diffusion equations and the hydrodynamic equation. We also discuss collective behaviours of the drops by analysing the interaction between the self-propelled drops