Time evolution of entropy associated with diffusivity fluctuations: Diffusing diffusivity approach

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the entropy related to diffusivity fluctuations evolves over time in biological systems, revealing a positive entropy rate and power-law decay in displacement times, with implications for understanding particle dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a study of the time evolution of entropy in diffusivity fluctuations using the diffusing diffusivity model, highlighting the positivity of entropy rate and power-law decay in displacement times.

Findings

Entropy rate under diffusing diffusivity is positive.

Distribution of displacement times decays as a power law.

Exponential distribution of diffusivities is the maximum entropy stationary state.

Abstract

It has experimentally been found by Lampo et al. [Biophys. J. 112, 532 (2017)] that, for two different types of cell, the distribution of the diffusivities of RNA-protein particles over cytoplasm obeys an exponential law. Then, an interesting issue has been pointed out: this exponential distribution is the maximal entropy distribution. Here, time evolution of entropy associated with local fluctuations of the diffusivity is studied. The entropy rate under the diffusing diffusivity equation, which admits the exponential fluctuation as its stationary solution, is shown to be positive. The present result is expected to be useful for studying the dynamics of diffusivity fluctuations. Furthermore, the distribution of time being required for characteristic displacement of the RNA-protein particle is found to decay as a power law. A comment is also made on a formal analogy with the thermodynamic relation concerning temperature.