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Active stop and go motion: A strategy to improve spatial exploration and survival
Fernando Peruani1, Debasish Chaudhuri2,3
1CY Cergy Paris Université, Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modélisation, UMR 8089, 95302 Cergy-Pontoise, France.
Physical Review. E
|October 21, 2025
Summary
Active Brownian particles switch between active and inactive states. Their dispersion depends on memory retention during stops, and survival time is maximized by optimal stopping frequency and diffusivity.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Biophysics
- Statistical Mechanics
Background:
- Active matter, including bacteria and artificial systems, exhibits intermittent active and inactive states.
- Understanding the transport properties and dynamics of such systems is crucial across various scales.
Purpose of the Study:
- To derive exact expressions for transport properties of intermittently switching active Brownian particles.
- To investigate the sensitivity of particle dispersion to details like memory retention during stop events.
- To extend the stop-and-go model with metabolic dynamics to find conditions maximizing particle survival time.
Main Methods:
- Derivation of exact analytical expressions for velocity autocorrelations and diffusion coefficients.
- Analysis of the stop-and-go model incorporating minimal metabolic dynamics.
- Investigation of particle dispersion sensitivity to orientation memory across stop events.
Main Results:
- Particle dispersion is highly sensitive to whether active orientation memory is retained during stop events.
- Exact expressions for key transport properties were derived.
- The average survival time of intermittently moving particles is maximized at specific optimal stopping frequencies and diffusivities.
Conclusions:
- The dynamics of active Brownian particles are complex and depend on subtle details of their intermittent behavior.
- Optimal metabolic dynamics can maximize particle survival time, suggesting adaptive strategies in biological and artificial systems.
- Further research into memory effects and metabolic influences on active matter is warranted.
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