The cytoskeleton is an important subsystem of cells that is involved for example in cell division and locomotion. It consists of filaments that are cross-linked by molecular motors that can induce relative sliding between filaments and generate stresses in the network. In order to study the effects of fluctuations on the dynamics of such a system we introduce here a new class of driven diffusive systems mimicking the dynamics of active filament bundles where the filaments are aligned with respect to a common axis. After introducing the model class we first analyze an exactly solvable case and find condensation. For the general case we perform a mean-field analysis and study the behavior on large length scales by coarse-graining. We determine conditions for condensation and establish a relation between the hopping rates and the tension generated in the bundle.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0512501,
title = {Driven diffusive systems of active filament bundles},
author = {P. K. Mohanty and K. Kruse},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0512501},
year = {2007}
}