First-passage-time statistics of active Brownian particles: A perturbative approach

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Yanis Baouche - , Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (Author)
  • Magali Le Goff - , University of Innsbruck (Author)
  • Christina Kurzthaler - , Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD), TUD Dresden University of Technology, Clusters of Excellence PoL: Physics of Life (Author)
  • Thomas Franosch - , University of Innsbruck (Author)

Abstract

We study the first-passage-time (FPT) properties of active Brownian particles to reach an absorbing wall in two dimensions. Employing a perturbation approach, we obtain exact analytical predictions for the survival and FPT distributions for small Péclet numbers, measuring the importance of self-propulsion relative to diffusion. While randomly oriented active agents reach the wall faster than their passive counterpart, their initial orientation plays a crucial role in the FPT statistics. Using the median as a metric, we quantify this anisotropy and find that it becomes more pronounced at distances where persistent active motion starts to dominate diffusion.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number054113
JournalPhysical Review E
Volume111
Issue number5
Publication statusPublished - May 2025
Peer-reviewedYes