Non-Gaussian normal diffusion in a fluctuating corrugated channel

Yunyun Li, Fabio Marchesoni, Debajyoti Debnath, Pulak K. Ghosh
2019 Physical Review Research  
A Brownian particle floating in a narrow corrugated (sinusoidal) channel with fluctuating cross section exhibits non-Gaussian normal diffusion. Its displacements are distributed according to a Gaussian law for very short and asymptotically large observation times, whereas a robust exponential distribution emerges for intermediate observation times of the order of the channel fluctuation correlation time. For intermediate to large observation times the particle undergoes normal diffusion with
more » ... and the same effective diffusion constant. These results are analytically interpreted without having recourse to heuristic assumptions. Such a simple model thus reproduces recent experimental and numerical observations obtained by investigating complex biophysical systems.
doi:10.1103/physrevresearch.1.033003 fatcat:55kjtu25zzaaboctc7lvegxifq