Elastic three-sphere microswimmer in a viscous fluid

We discuss the dynamics of a generalized three-sphere microswimmer in which the spheres are connected by two elastic springs. The natural length of each spring is assumed to undergo a prescribed cyclic change. We analytically obtain the average swimming velocity as a function of the frequency of cyclic change in the natural length. In the low-frequency region, the swimming velocity increases with frequency, and its expression reduces to that of the original three-sphere model by Najafi and Golestanian. Conversely, in the high-frequency region, the average velocity decreases with increasing frequency. Such behavior originates from the intrinsic spring relaxation dynamics of an elastic swimmer moving in a viscous fluid.