Active Brownian motion of an asymmetric rigid particle

TL;DR

This paper models the active Brownian motion of asymmetric rod-like particles, including biological and non-living systems, to better understand their movement and transport in two dimensions.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model for the active Brownian motion of asymmetric particles, improving upon previous models for biological and synthetic systems.

Findings

The model accurately describes the motion of asymmetric self-propelled particles.

It accounts for external potential fields affecting particle trajectories.

The approach enhances understanding of intracellular transport and cell motility.

Abstract

Individual movements of a rod-like self-propelled particle on a flat substrate are quantified. Biological systems that fit into this description may be the Gram-negative delta-proteobacterium Myxococcus xanthus, Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, and Mitochondria. There are also non-living analogues such as vibrated polar granulates and self-driven anisotropic colloidal particles. For that we study the Brownian motion of an asymmetric rod-like rigid particle self-propelled at a fixed speed along its long axis in two dimensions. The motion of such a particle in a uniform external potential field is also considered. The theoretical model presented here is anticipated to better describe individual cell motion as well as intracellular transport in 2D than previous models.