@article{GrebenkovMetzlerOshanin2021, author = {Grebenkov, Denis S. and Metzler, Ralf and Oshanin, Gleb}, title = {A molecular relay race: sequential first-passage events to the terminal reaction centre in a cascade of diffusion controlled processes}, series = {New Journal of Physics (NJP)}, volume = {23}, journal = {New Journal of Physics (NJP)}, publisher = {IOP - Institute of Physics Publishing}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {1367-2630}, doi = {10.1088/1367-2630/ac1e42}, pages = {18}, year = {2021}, abstract = {We consider a sequential cascade of molecular first-reaction events towards a terminal reaction centre in which each reaction step is controlled by diffusive motion of the particles. The model studied here represents a typical reaction setting encountered in diverse molecular biology systems, in which, e.g. a signal transduction proceeds via a series of consecutive 'messengers': the first messenger has to find its respective immobile target site triggering a launch of the second messenger, the second messenger seeks its own target site and provokes a launch of the third messenger and so on, resembling a relay race in human competitions. For such a molecular relay race taking place in infinite one-, two- and three-dimensional systems, we find exact expressions for the probability density function of the time instant of the terminal reaction event, conditioned on preceding successful reaction events on an ordered array of target sites. The obtained expressions pertain to the most general conditions: number of intermediate stages and the corresponding diffusion coefficients, the sizes of the target sites, the distances between them, as well as their reactivities are arbitrary.}, language = {en} } @article{HerrmannMetzler2017, author = {Herrmann, Carl J. J. and Metzler, Ralf}, title = {A self-avoiding walk with neural delays as a model of fixational eye movements}, series = {Scientific reports}, volume = {7}, journal = {Scientific reports}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {London}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-017-13489-8}, pages = {1 -- 17}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Fixational eye movements show scaling behaviour of the positional mean-squared displacement with a characteristic transition from persistence to antipersistence for increasing time-lag. These statistical patterns were found to be mainly shaped by microsaccades (fast, small-amplitude movements). However, our re-analysis of fixational eye-movement data provides evidence that the slow component (physiological drift) of the eyes exhibits scaling behaviour of the mean-squared displacement that varies across human participants. These results suggest that drift is a correlated movement that interacts with microsaccades. Moreover, on the long time scale, the mean-squared displacement of the drift shows oscillations, which is also present in the displacement auto-correlation function. This finding lends support to the presence of time-delayed feedback in the control of drift movements. Based on an earlier non-linear delayed feedback model of fixational eye movements, we propose and discuss different versions of a new model that combines a self-avoiding walk with time delay. As a result, we identify a model that reproduces oscillatory correlation functions, the transition from persistence to antipersistence, and microsaccades.}, language = {en} } @article{GuggenbergerChechkinMetzler2022, author = {Guggenberger, Tobias and Chechkin, Aleksei and Metzler, Ralf}, title = {Absence of stationary states and non-Boltzmann distributions of fractional Brownian motion in shallow external potentials}, series = {New journal of physics : the open-access journal for physics}, volume = {24}, journal = {New journal of physics : the open-access journal for physics}, number = {7}, publisher = {Dt. Physikalische Ges.}, address = {[Bad Honnef]}, issn = {1367-2630}, doi = {10.1088/1367-2630/ac7b3c}, pages = {18}, year = {2022}, abstract = {We study the diffusive motion of a particle in a subharmonic potential of the form U(x) = |x|( c ) (0 < c < 2) driven by long-range correlated, stationary fractional Gaussian noise xi ( alpha )(t) with 0 < alpha <= 2. In the absence of the potential the particle exhibits free fractional Brownian motion with anomalous diffusion exponent alpha. While for an harmonic external potential the dynamics converges to a Gaussian stationary state, from extensive numerical analysis we here demonstrate that stationary states for shallower than harmonic potentials exist only as long as the relation c > 2(1 - 1/alpha) holds. We analyse the motion in terms of the mean squared displacement and (when it exists) the stationary probability density function. Moreover we discuss analogies of non-stationarity of Levy flights in shallow external potentials.}, language = {en} } @article{SafdariCherstvyChechkinetal.2017, author = {Safdari, Hadiseh and Cherstvy, Andrey G. and Chechkin, Aleksei V. and Bodrova, Anna and Metzler, Ralf}, title = {Aging underdamped scaled Brownian motion}, series = {Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics}, volume = {95}, journal = {Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, address = {College Park}, issn = {2470-0045}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevE.95.012120}, pages = {15}, year = {2017}, abstract = {We investigate both analytically and by computer simulations the ensemble- and time-averaged, nonergodic, and aging properties of massive particles diffusing in a medium with a time dependent diffusivity. We call this stochastic diffusion process the (aging) underdamped scaled Brownian motion (UDSBM). We demonstrate how the mean squared displacement (MSD) and the time-averaged MSD of UDSBM are affected by the inertial term in the Langevin equation, both at short, intermediate, and even long diffusion times. In particular, we quantify the ballistic regime for the MSD and the time-averaged MSD as well as the spread of individual time-averaged MSD trajectories. One of the main effects we observe is that, both for the MSD and the time-averaged MSD, for superdiffusive UDSBM the ballistic regime is much shorter than for ordinary Brownian motion. In contrast, for subdiffusive UDSBM, the ballistic region extends to much longer diffusion times. Therefore, particular care needs to be taken under what conditions the overdamped limit indeed provides a correct description, even in the long time limit. We also analyze to what extent ergodicity in the Boltzmann-Khinchin sense in this nonstationary system is broken, both for subdiffusive and superdiffusive UDSBM. Finally, the limiting case of ultraslow UDSBM is considered, with a mixed logarithmic and power-law dependence of the ensemble-and time-averaged MSDs of the particles. In the limit of strong aging, remarkably, the ordinary UDSBM and the ultraslow UDSBM behave similarly in the short time ballistic limit. The approaches developed here open ways for considering other stochastic processes under physically important conditions when a finite particle mass and aging in the system cannot be neglected.}, language = {en} } @article{WangMetzlerCherstvy2022, author = {Wang, Wei and Metzler, Ralf and Cherstvy, Andrey G.}, title = {Anomalous diffusion, aging, and nonergodicity of scaled Brownian motion with fractional Gaussian noise: overview of related experimental observations and models}, series = {Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European chemical societies}, volume = {24}, journal = {Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European chemical societies}, number = {31}, publisher = {RSC Publ.}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {1463-9076}, doi = {10.1039/d2cp01741e}, pages = {18482 -- 18504}, year = {2022}, abstract = {How does a systematic time-dependence of the diffusion coefficient D(t) affect the ergodic and statistical characteristics of fractional Brownian motion (FBM)? Here, we answer this question via studying the characteristics of a set of standard statistical quantifiers relevant to single-particle-tracking (SPT) experiments. We examine, for instance, how the behavior of the ensemble- and time-averaged mean-squared displacements-denoted as the standard MSD < x(2)(Delta)> and TAMSD <<(delta(2)(Delta))over bar>> quantifiers-of FBM featuring < x(2) (Delta >> = <<(delta(2)(Delta >)over bar>> proportional to Delta(2H) (where H is the Hurst exponent and Delta is the [lag] time) changes in the presence of a power-law deterministically varying diffusivity D-proportional to(t) proportional to t(alpha-1) -germane to the process of scaled Brownian motion (SBM)-determining the strength of fractional Gaussian noise. The resulting compound "scaled-fractional" Brownian motion or FBM-SBM is found to be nonergodic, with < x(2)(Delta >> proportional to Delta(alpha+)(2H)(-1) and <(delta 2(Delta >) over bar > proportional to Delta(2H). We also detect a stalling behavior of the MSDs for very subdiffusive SBM and FBM, when alpha + 2H - 1 < 0. The distribution of particle displacements for FBM-SBM remains Gaussian, as that for the parent processes of FBM and SBM, in the entire region of scaling exponents (0 < alpha < 2 and 0 < H < 1). The FBM-SBM process is aging in a manner similar to SBM. The velocity autocorrelation function (ACF) of particle increments of FBM-SBM exhibits a dip when the parent FBM process is subdiffusive. Both for sub- and superdiffusive FBM contributions to the FBM-SBM process, the SBM exponent affects the long-time decay exponent of the ACF. Applications of the FBM-SBM-amalgamated process to the analysis of SPT data are discussed. A comparative tabulated overview of recent experimental (mainly SPT) and computational datasets amenable for interpretation in terms of FBM-, SBM-, and FBM-SBM-like models of diffusion culminates the presentation. The statistical aspects of the dynamics of a wide range of biological systems is compared in the table, from nanosized beads in living cells, to chromosomal loci, to water diffusion in the brain, and, finally, to patterns of animal movements.}, language = {en} } @article{CherstvySafdariMetzler2021, author = {Cherstvy, Andrey G. and Safdari, Hadiseh and Metzler, Ralf}, title = {Anomalous diffusion, nonergodicity, and ageing for exponentially and logarithmically time-dependent diffusivity}, series = {Journal of physics. D, Applied physics}, volume = {54}, journal = {Journal of physics. D, Applied physics}, number = {19}, publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {0022-3727}, doi = {10.1088/1361-6463/abdff0}, pages = {18}, year = {2021}, abstract = {We investigate a diffusion process with a time-dependent diffusion coefficient, both exponentially increasing and decreasing in time, D(t)=D-0(e +/- 2 alpha t). For this (hypothetical) nonstationary diffusion process we compute-both analytically and from extensive stochastic simulations-the behavior of the ensemble- and time-averaged mean-squared displacements (MSDs) of the particles, both in the over- and underdamped limits. Simple asymptotic relations derived for the short- and long-time behaviors are shown to be in excellent agreement with the results of simulations. The diffusive characteristics in the presence of ageing are also considered, with dramatic differences of the over- versus underdamped regime. Our results for D(t)=D-0(e +/- 2 alpha t) extend and generalize the class of diffusive systems obeying scaled Brownian motion featuring a power-law-like variation of the diffusivity with time, D(t) similar to t(alpha-1). We also examine the logarithmically increasing diffusivity, D(t)=D(0)log[t/tau(0)], as another fundamental functional dependence (in addition to the power-law and exponential) and as an example of diffusivity slowly varying in time. One of the main conclusions is that the behavior of the massive particles is predominantly ergodic, while weak ergodicity breaking is repeatedly found for the time-dependent diffusion of the massless particles at short times. The latter manifests itself in the nonequivalence of the (both nonaged and aged) MSD and the mean time-averaged MSD. The current findings are potentially applicable to a class of physical systems out of thermal equilibrium where a rapid increase or decrease of the particles' diffusivity is inherently realized. One biological system potentially featuring all three types of time-dependent diffusion (power-law-like, exponential, and logarithmic) is water diffusion in the brain tissues, as we thoroughly discuss in the end.}, language = {en} } @article{DoerriesChechkinMetzler2022, author = {Doerries, Timo J. and Chechkin, Aleksei V. and Metzler, Ralf}, title = {Apparent anomalous diffusion and non-Gaussian distributions in a simple mobile-immobile transport model with Poissonian switching}, series = {Interface : journal of the Royal Society}, volume = {19}, journal = {Interface : journal of the Royal Society}, number = {192}, publisher = {Royal Society}, address = {London}, issn = {1742-5689}, doi = {10.1098/rsif.2022.0233}, pages = {14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {We analyse mobile-immobile transport of particles that switch between the mobile and immobile phases with finite rates. Despite this seemingly simple assumption of Poissonian switching, we unveil a rich transport dynamics including significant transient anomalous diffusion and non-Gaussian displacement distributions. Our discussion is based on experimental parameters for tau proteins in neuronal cells, but the results obtained here are expected to be of relevance for a broad class of processes in complex systems. Specifically, we obtain that, when the mean binding time is significantly longer than the mean mobile time, transient anomalous diffusion is observed at short and intermediate time scales, with a strong dependence on the fraction of initially mobile and immobile particles. We unveil a Laplace distribution of particle displacements at relevant intermediate time scales. For any initial fraction of mobile particles, the respective mean squared displacement (MSD) displays a plateau. Moreover, we demonstrate a short-time cubic time dependence of the MSD for immobile tracers when initially all particles are immobile.}, language = {en} } @article{PadashSandevKantzetal.2022, author = {Padash, Amin and Sandev, Trifce and Kantz, Holger and Metzler, Ralf and Chechkin, Aleksei}, title = {Asymmetric Levy flights are more efficient in random search}, series = {Fractal and fractional}, volume = {6}, journal = {Fractal and fractional}, number = {5}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2504-3110}, doi = {10.3390/fractalfract6050260}, pages = {23}, year = {2022}, abstract = {We study the first-arrival (first-hitting) dynamics and efficiency of a one-dimensional random search model performing asymmetric Levy flights by leveraging the Fokker-Planck equation with a delta-sink and an asymmetric space-fractional derivative operator with stable index alpha and asymmetry (skewness) parameter beta. We find exact analytical results for the probability density of first-arrival times and the search efficiency, and we analyse their behaviour within the limits of short and long times. We find that when the starting point of the searcher is to the right of the target, random search by Brownian motion is more efficient than Levy flights with beta <= 0 (with a rightward bias) for short initial distances, while for beta>0 (with a leftward bias) Levy flights with alpha -> 1 are more efficient. When increasing the initial distance of the searcher to the target, Levy flight search (except for alpha=1 with beta=0) is more efficient than the Brownian search. Moreover, the asymmetry in jumps leads to essentially higher efficiency of the Levy search compared to symmetric Levy flights at both short and long distances, and the effect is more pronounced for stable indices alpha close to unity.}, language = {en} } @article{ThapaLomholtKrogetal.2018, author = {Thapa, Samudrajit and Lomholt, Michael Andersen and Krog, Jens and Cherstvy, Andrey G. and Metzler, Ralf}, title = {Bayesian analysis of single-particle tracking data using the nested-sampling algorithm: maximum-likelihood model selection applied to stochastic-diffusivity data}, series = {Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European Chemical Societies}, volume = {20}, journal = {Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European Chemical Societies}, number = {46}, publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {1463-9076}, doi = {10.1039/c8cp04043e}, pages = {29018 -- 29037}, year = {2018}, abstract = {We employ Bayesian statistics using the nested-sampling algorithm to compare and rank multiple models of ergodic diffusion (including anomalous diffusion) as well as to assess their optimal parameters for in silico-generated and real time-series. We focus on the recently-introduced model of Brownian motion with "diffusing diffusivity'-giving rise to widely-observed non-Gaussian displacement statistics-and its comparison to Brownian and fractional Brownian motion, also for the time-series with some measurement noise. We conduct this model-assessment analysis using Bayesian statistics and the nested-sampling algorithm on the level of individual particle trajectories. We evaluate relative model probabilities and compute best-parameter sets for each diffusion model, comparing the estimated parameters to the true ones. We test the performance of the nested-sampling algorithm and its predictive power both for computer-generated (idealised) trajectories as well as for real single-particle-tracking trajectories. Our approach delivers new important insight into the objective selection of the most suitable stochastic model for a given time-series. We also present first model-ranking results in application to experimental data of tracer diffusion in polymer-based hydrogels.}, language = {en} } @article{SecklerMetzler2022, author = {Seckler, Henrik and Metzler, Ralf}, title = {Bayesian deep learning for error estimation in the analysis of anomalous diffusion}, series = {Nature Communnications}, volume = {13}, journal = {Nature Communnications}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group UK}, address = {London}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-022-34305-6}, pages = {13}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Modern single-particle-tracking techniques produce extensive time-series of diffusive motion in a wide variety of systems, from single-molecule motion in living-cells to movement ecology. The quest is to decipher the physical mechanisms encoded in the data and thus to better understand the probed systems. We here augment recently proposed machine-learning techniques for decoding anomalous-diffusion data to include an uncertainty estimate in addition to the predicted output. To avoid the Black-Box-Problem a Bayesian-Deep-Learning technique named Stochastic-Weight-Averaging-Gaussian is used to train models for both the classification of the diffusionmodel and the regression of the anomalous diffusion exponent of single-particle-trajectories. Evaluating their performance, we find that these models can achieve a wellcalibrated error estimate while maintaining high prediction accuracies. In the analysis of the output uncertainty predictions we relate these to properties of the underlying diffusion models, thus providing insights into the learning process of the machine and the relevance of the output.}, language = {en} }