Interactions of an elastic ring with active nematic fluid*

We investigate how active stresses organize in the presence of soft interfaces by simulating a hydrodynamic model of active nematics coupled with a closed extensible elastic ring using immersed boundary methods. In the overdamped limit, the balance of fluid stresses with the elastic stresses allows us to probe the active fluctuations by investigating the dynamics of shape of the elastic ring. We quantify measures of shape fluctuations including local deformation, curvature, and asphericity in the phase space of elastic stiffness and the strength of the active stress. These shape properties provide insights into the physics of the active nematic fluid under deformable confinements.