Confinement effect on active turbulent dynamics*

Dense bacterial suspensions organize into mesoscale active turbulent vortices when confined in quasi-2D or 3D chambers. The spatial and temporal length scale of the turbulent vortices is dependent not only on the active fluid itself but also on the rheological properties of the confinement interface. Moreover, the turbulent vortices transform into a single spiral vortex state when the confinement size reaches the turbulent correlation length. Here we discuss the confinement interface and dimension effects on active turbulent dynamics and hence the macroscale behavior. This study is aiming to provide physical insights for designing environments of controllable collective motion and active assembly.