English

A universal scaling law for active diffusion in complex media

Soft Condensed Matter 2025-05-06 v1

Abstract

Using granular experiments and computer simulations, we investigate the long-time diffusion of active tracers in a broad class of complex media composed of frozen obstacles of diverse structures. By introducing a dimensionless persistence length Q=vdτr/dtQ = v_d \tau_r / d_t, we propose a modified scaling relation that independently collapses experimental and simulation results across active and passive particles, diverse media, and distinct propulsion mechanisms. Our results reveal a universal active diffusion-structure relation that holds across both equilibrium and nonequilibrium regimes, providing a simple predictive framework for active diffusion in complex environments.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2505.02342,
  title  = {A universal scaling law for active diffusion in complex media},
  author = {Qun Zhang and Yuxin Tian and Xue Zhang and Xiaoting Yu and Hongwei Zhu and Ning Zheng and Luhui Ning and Ran Ni and Mingcheng Yang and Peng Liu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.02342},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T23:20:59.478Z