Related papers: Target finding in fibrous biological environments
A random search of a partially absorbing target by a run-and-tumble particle in a confined one-dimensional space is investigated. We analytically obtain the mean searching time, which shows a non-monotonic behavior as a function of the…
In this paper, we derive an effective model for transport processes in periodically perforated elastic media, taking into account, e.g., cyclic elastic deformations as they occur in lung tissue due to respiratory movement. The underlying…
We study directed last passage percolation on the first quadrant of the planar square lattice whose weights have general distributions, or equivalently, ./G/1 queues in series. The service time distributions of the servers vary randomly…
We extend the theoretical framework used to study search processes with stochastic resetting to the case of partially absorbing targets. Instead of an absorption event occurring when the search particle reaches the boundary of a target, the…
First passage percolation on $\mathbb{Z}^2$ is a model for describing the spread of an infection on the sites of the square lattice. The infection is spread via nearest neighbor sites and the time dynamic is specified by random passage…
A central goal of protein-folding theory is to predict the stochastic dynamics of transition paths --- the rare trajectories that transit between the folded and unfolded ensembles --- using only thermodynamic information, such as a…
We develop a prototypical stochastic model for local search around a given home. The stochastic dynamic model is motivated by experimental findings of the motion of a fruit fly around a given spot of food but shall generally describe local…
Many physical, chemical, and biological systems depend on the first passage time (FPT) of a diffusive searcher to a target. Typically, this FPT is much slower than the characteristic diffusion timescale. For example, this is the case if the…
Diffusive search for a static target is a common problem in statistical physics with numerous applications in chemistry and biology. We look at this problem from a different perspective and investigate the statistics of encounters between…
Biological events are often initiated when a random "searcher" finds a "target," which is called a first passage time (FPT). In some biological systems involving multiple searchers, an important timescale is the time it takes the slowest…
We study a two-dimensional tight-binding lattice for excitons with on-site disorder, coupled to a thermal environment at infinite temperature. The disorder acts to localise an exciton spatially, while the environment generates dynamics…
In living cells, proteins combine 3D bulk diffusion and 1D sliding along the DNA to reach a target faster. This process is known as facilitated diffusion, and we investigate its dynamics in the physiologically relevant case of confined DNA.…
The time it takes the fastest searcher out of $N\gg1$ searchers to find a target determines the timescale of many physical, chemical, and biological processes. This time is called an extreme first passage time (FPT) and is typically much…
Diffusive motion of regulatory enzymes on biopolymers with eventual capture at a reaction site is a common feature in cell biology. Using a lattice gas model we study the impact of diffusion and capture for a microtubule polymerase and a…
The study of first passage times for diffusing particles reaching target states is foundational in various practical applications, including diffusion-controlled reactions. In this work, we present a bi-scaling theory for the probability…
We develop a model to compute the first-passage time of a random walker in a crowded environment. Hard-core particles with the same size and diffusion coefficient than the tracer diffuse, and the model allows to compute the first passage…
We study the search process of a target on a rapidly folding polymer (`DNA') by an ensemble of particles (`proteins'), whose search combines 1D diffusion along the chain, Levy type diffusion mediated by chain looping, and volume exchange. A…
Trajectories in human aimed movements are inherently variable. Using the concept of positional variance profiles, such trajectories are shown to be decomposable into two phases: In a first phase, the variance of the limb position over many…
First passage time (FPT) theory is often used to estimate timescales in cellular and molecular biology. While the overwhelming majority of studies have focused on the time it takes a given single Brownian searcher to reach a target,…
A major challenge in flow through porous media is to better understand the link between microstructure and macroscale flow and transport. For idealised microstructures, the mathematical framework of homogenisation theory can be used for…