Issue |
EPL
Volume 111, Number 6, September 2015
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 60002 | |
Number of page(s) | 6 | |
Section | General | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/111/60002 | |
Published online | 30 September 2015 |
Non-Poissonian run-and-turn motions
Institut Lumière Matière, UMR5306 Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon - 69622 Villeurbanne, France
Received: 5 May 2015
Accepted: 7 September 2015
Swimming bacteria exhibit a variety of motion patterns, in which persistent runs are punctuated by turning events. A simple yet fundamental question is to establish the properties of these random walks. While a complete answer is available when turning events follow a Poisson process, much less is known outside this particular case. We present a generic framework for such non-Poissonian run-and-turn motions. Extending the formalism of continuous time random walks, we obtain the generating function of moments in terms of noncommuting operators. We characterize analytically a bimodal model of persistent motion, which describes all types of swimming pattern, and is also relevant for cell motility.
PACS: 05.40.Fb – Random walks and Levy flights / 47.63.Gd – Swimming microorganisms / 87.17.Jj – Cell locomotion, chemotaxis
© EPLA, 2015
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