Unlike passive Brownian particles, active Brownian particles, also known as microswimmers, propel themselves with directed motion and thus drive themselves out of equilibrium. Understanding their motion can provide insight into out-of-equilibrium phenomena associated with biological examples such as bacteria, as well as with artificial microswimmers. We discuss how to mathematically model their motion using a set of stochastic differential equations and how to numerically simulate it using the corresponding set of finite difference equations both in homogenous and complex environments. In particular, we show how active Brownian particles do not follow the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution—a clear signature of their out-of-equilibrium nature—and how, unlike passive Brownian particles, microswimmers can be funneled, trapped, and sorted.
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July 2014
July 01 2014
Simulation of the active Brownian motion of a microswimmer
Giorgio Volpe;
Giorgio Volpe
Institut Langevin, ESPCI ParisTech, CNRS UMR7587
, 1 rue Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
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Sylvain Gigan;
Sylvain Gigan
Institut Langevin, ESPCI ParisTech, CNRS UMR7587
, 1 rue Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
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Giovanni Volpe
Giovanni Volpe
a)
Physics Department, Bilkent University
, Cankaya, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
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a)
Electronic mail: giovanni.volpe@fen.bilkent.edu.tr
Am. J. Phys. 82, 659–664 (2014)
Article history
Received:
December 19 2013
Accepted:
March 24 2014
Citation
Giorgio Volpe, Sylvain Gigan, Giovanni Volpe; Simulation of the active Brownian motion of a microswimmer. Am. J. Phys. 1 July 2014; 82 (7): 659–664. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4870398
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