Transport on a Lattice with Dynamical Defects

TL;DR

This paper studies how localized, fluctuating defects on a one-dimensional transport lattice affect particle flow, revealing a new intermittent current regime influenced by defect dynamics, with implications for biological and general transport systems.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of dynamical defects coupled to driven lattice gases and explores their impact on transport phenomena, highlighting a novel intermittent current regime.

Findings

Identification of a new intermittent current regime due to dynamical defects

Severe finite-size effects observed in transport behavior

Dynamical defects significantly regulate transport in biological and other systems

Abstract

Many transport processes in nature take place on substrates, often considered as unidimensional lanes. These unidimensional substrates are typically non-static: affected by a fluctuating environment, they can undergo conformational changes. This is particularly true in biological cells, where the state of the substrate is often coupled to the active motion of macromolecular complexes, such as motor proteins on microtubules or ribosomes on mRNAs, causing new interesting phenomena. Inspired by biological processes such as protein synthesis by ribosomes and motor protein transport, we introduce the concept of localized dynamical sites coupled to a driven lattice gas dynamics. We investigate the phenomenology of transport in the presence of dynamical defects and find a novel regime characterized by an intermittent current and subject to severe finite-size effects. Our results demonstrate the impact of the regulatory role of the dynamical defects in transport, not only in biology but also in more general contexts.