Velocity Distribution and Diffusion of an Athermal Inertial Run-and-Tumble Particle in a Shear-Thickening Medium

TL;DR

This paper analytically and numerically investigates the velocity distribution and diffusion behavior of an active, inertial particle in a shear-thickening medium, revealing multiple transition points influenced by activity parameters.

Contribution

It provides the first analytical derivation of the steady-state velocity distribution and diffusion coefficient for an inertial run-and-tumble particle in a nonlinear shear-thickening medium.

Findings

Velocity distribution undergoes multiple transitions with changing flipping rate.

Analytical results for steady-state distribution and diffusion coefficient match numerical simulations.

Transition points are robust under different shear-thickening functions.

Abstract

We study the dynamics of an athermal inertial run-and-tumble particle moving in a shear-thickening medium in $d=1$. The viscosity of the medium is represented by a nonlinear function $f(v)\sim\tan(v)$, while a symmetric dichotomous noise of strength $\Sigma$ and flipping rate $\lambda$ models the activity of the particle. Starting from the Fokker-Planck~(FP) equation for the time-dependent probability distribution $W_{\pm\Sigma}(v, t)$ of the particle's velocity $v$ at time $t$ and the active force is $\pm\Sigma$, we analytically derive the steady-state velocity distribution function $W_s(v)$ and a quadrature expression for the effective diffusion coefficient $D_{\rm eff}$. For a fixed $\Sigma$, $W_s(v)$ undergoes multiple transitions with varying $\lambda$, and we have identified the corresponding transition points. We then numerically compute $W_s(v)$, the mean-squared velocity $\langle v^2\rangle(t)$, and the diffusion coefficient $D_{\rm eff}$, all of which show excellent agreement with the analytical results in the steady-state. Finally, we test the robustness of the transitions in $W_s(v)$ by considering an alternative $f(v)$ function that also capture the shear-thickening behavior of the medium.