Abstract
The generation of contractile forces by living cells often involves linear arrangements of actively interacting polar filaments. We develop a physical description of the dynamics of active fibers based on a general expression for the tension in terms of the filament density and the bundle polarisation. We discuss the long-time behaviour of oriented and of nonpolar fibres, discuss effects of polymerization and depolymerization, and relate this continuum theory to nonlocal descriptions of filament-motor systems. We show that a nonpolar arrangement of filaments suppresses oscillatory instabilities which could be relevant for muscle fibers.