Active Brownian motion of an asymmetric rigid particle

Abstract

Individual movements of a rod-like self-propelled particle on a flat substrate are quantified. Biological systems that fit into this description may be the Gram-negative delta-proteobacterium Myxococcus xanthus, Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, and Mitochondria. There are also non-living analogues such as vibrated polar granulates and self-driven anisotropic colloidal particles. For that we study the Brownian motion of an asymmetric rod-like rigid particle self-propelled at a fixed speed along its long axis in two dimensions. The motion of such a particle in a uniform external potential field is also considered. The theoretical model presented here is anticipated to better describe individual cell motion as well as intracellular transport in 2D than previous models.