1306.0481 (Rodrigo Soto et al.)

Run-and-tumble in a crowded environment: persistent exclusion process
for swimmers    [PDF]

Rodrigo Soto, Ramin Golestanian

The effect of crowding on the run-and-tumble dynamics of swimmers such as bacteria is studied using a discrete lattice model of mutually excluding particles that move with constant velocity along a direction that is randomized at a rate $\alpha$. In stationary state, the system is found to break into dense clusters of a characteristic size that predominantly scales as $\alpha^{-0.5}$, in which particles are trapped or stopped from moving for a time of order $\alpha^{-1.7}$ for a range of densities, due to cooperative effects. Our findings might be helpful in understanding the early stages of biofilm formation.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1306.0481