Two-dimensional active motion

Abstract

The diffusion in two dimensions of non-interacting active particles that follow an arbitrary motility pattern is considered for analysis. Accordingly, the transport equation is generalized to take into account an arbitrary distribution of scattered angles of the swimming direction, which encompasses the pattern of motion of particles that move at constant speed. An exact analytical expression for the marginal probability density of finding a particle on a given position at a given instant, independently of its direction of motion, is provided; and a connection with a generalized diffusion equation is unveiled. Exact analytical expressions for the time dependence of the mean-square displacement and of the kurtosis of the distribution of the particle positions are presented. For this, it is shown that only the first trigonometric moments of the distribution of the scattered direction of motion are needed. The effects of persistence and of circular motion are discussed for different families of distributions of the scattered direction of motion.