Active Brownian motion with intermittent direction reversals is common in a class of bacteria like Myxococcus xanthus and Pseudomonas putida. For such a motion in two dimensions, the presence of the two time scales set by the rotational diffusion constant and the reversal rate gives rise to four dynamical regimes showing distinct behaviors. We characterize these behaviors by analytically computing the position distribution and persistence exponents. I will also present results on the steady state of such a "direction reversing active Brownian particle" in a harmonic potential. In this case, due to the interplay between the rotational diffusion constant, the reversal rate, and the trap strength, the steady state distribution shows four different types of shapes.
This work was done in collaboration with Ion Santra and Urna Basu, and the talk is based on the following publications.
1. Phys. Rev. E 104, L012601 (2021). [Letter]
2. Soft Matter 17, 10108 (2021).