Particle with internal dynamical asymmetry: chaotic self-propulsion and turning

Abstract

We consider model of a complex particle that consists of a rigid shell and a nucleus with spatial asymmetric interaction. The particle's dynamics with the nucleus driven by a periodic excitation is considered. It is shown that unidirectional self-propulsed particle motion arises in the absence of spatial and temporary asymmetry of external potentials and influences. Transport modes are the general case of complex particle dynamics in the presence of nonlinear friction or periodic external potential. The changes of average transport velocity and direction of transport are determined by qualitative changes of internal dynamics regimes: local attractor bifurcations in the internal phase space of the complex particle. Finally, microbiological relevance of the proposed model is briefly discussed.