Eur. Phys. J. E (2017) 40: 86
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2017-11576-6

Regular Article

Buckling of elastic filaments by discrete magnetic moments

Institute for Nonlinear Dynamics, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

^* e-mail: horst-holger.boltz@phys.uni-goettingen.de

Received: 3 April 2017
Accepted: 19 September 2017
Published online: 11 October 2017

Abstract

We study the buckling of an idealized, semiflexible filament along whose contour magnetic moments are placed. We give analytic expressions for the critical stiffness of the filament below which it buckles due to the magnetic compression. For this, we consider various scenarios of the attachment of the magnetic particles to the filament. One possible application for this model are the magnetosome chains of magnetotactic bacteria. An estimate of the critical bending stiffness indicates that buckling may occur within the range of biologically relevant parameters and suggests a role for the bending stiffness of the filament to stabilize the filament against buckling, which would compromise the functional relevance of the bending stiffness of the used filament.