QUANTUM EFFECTS OF STRINGY AND MEMBRANIC NATURE FOR THE SWIMMING OF MICROORGANISMS IN A FLUID

The static potential is investigated in string and membrane theories c oupled to U(1) gauge fields (specifically, external magnetic fields) a nd with antisymmetric tensor fields. The explicit dependence of the po tential on the shape of the extended objects is obtained, including a careful calculation of the quantum effects. Noting the features which are common to the dynamics of strings and membranes moving in backgrou nd fields and to the swimming of micro-organisms in a fluid, the latte r problem is studied. The Casimir energy of a micro-organism is estima ted, taking into account the quantum effects and the back reaction fro m the outside fluid.