Gigantic dynamical spreading and anomalous diffusion of jerky active particles

Area of Science:

• Soft Matter Physics
• Statistical Mechanics
• Active Matter

Background:

• Brownian motion describes random particle movement.
• Inertial active particles are self-propelled and exhibit inertia.
• Jerk, the rate of change in acceleration, is a key factor in new particle dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and analyze the dynamics of jerky active particles.
• To investigate the mean-square displacement (MSD) and scaling regimes.
• To explore the behavior of jerky particles in harmonic potentials and their experimental realization.

Main Methods:

• Analytical solution of a linear jerk equation of motion.
• Incorporation of Stokes friction, spring force, and active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process.
• Extraction of mean-square displacement (MSD) as a function of time.

Main Results:

• Jerk-dominated particles exhibit superballistic spreading with anomalous dynamical exponents (6, 5, 4, or 3).
• Particles show increased kinetic temperature and localization-delocalization transitions in harmonic potentials.
• The transition can be first or second order depending on jerkiness.

Conclusions:

• Jerky active particles demonstrate unique, large-scale spreading behaviors.
• These particles can escape harmonic confinement, with transitions influenced by jerkiness.
• Experimental realization is possible in feedback-controlled macroscopic particles and active colloids.