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Chaotic Model for Lévy Walks in Swarming Bacteria
Gil Ariel1, Avraham Be'er2, Andy Reynolds3
1Department of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52000, Israel.
Abstract:
We describe a new mechanism for Lévy walks, explaining the recently observed superdiffusion of swarming bacteria. The model hinges on several key physical properties of bacteria, such as an elongated cell shape, self-propulsion, and a collectively generated regular vortexlike flow. In particular, chaos and Lévy walking are a consequence of group dynamics. The model explains how cells can fine-tune the geometric properties of their trajectories. Experiments confirm the spectrum of these patterns in fluorescently labeled swarming Bacillus subtilis.
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