Abstract
A vortex lattice of microtubules emerges in a dynein-microtubule motility assay. To clarify the physical mechanism of this collective behavior, the trajectory of isolated microtubules and the interaction between microtubules were experimentally examined. We found that the trajectory of an isolated microtubule has a long correlation time of its curvature and microtubules interact with each other through only nematic steric interaction. We developed the mathematical model based on the experimentally confirmed characteristics and concluded that long correlation time of the motion of an isolated microtubule and high density of microtubules are the key factors for the vortex lattice emergence.
