Single-file diffusion with non-thermal initial conditions

Abstract

Single-file diffusion is a theoretically challenging many-body problem where the calculation of even the simplest observables, e.g. mean square displacement, for a tracer particle requires a heavy mathematical machinery. There is therefore a need for simple approaches which predict qualitatively correct behaviours. Here we put forward one such method which we use to investigate the influence of non-thermal initial conditions on the dynamics of a tracer particle. With our new approach we reproduce, up to scaling, several known asymptotic results for the tracer particle mean square displacement.