Traffic flow of interacting self-driven particles: rails and trails, vehicles and vesicles

Chowdhury, Debashish (2003) Traffic flow of interacting self-driven particles: rails and trails, vehicles and vesicles Physica Scripta, T106 . pp. 13-18. ISSN 0031-8949

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Official URL: http://iopscience.iop.org/1402-4896/2003/T106/003/

Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1238/Physica.Topical.106a00013

Abstract

One common feature of a vehicle, an ant and a kinesin motor is that they all convert chemical energy, derived from fuel or food, into mechanical energy required for their forward movement; such objects have been modelled in recent years as self-driven "particles". Cytoskeletal filaments, e.g., microtubules, form a "rail" network for intra-cellular transport of vesicular cargo by molecular motors like, for example, kinesins. Similarly, ants move along trails while vehicles move along lanes. Therefore, the traffic of vehicles and organisms as well as that of molecular motors can be modelled as systems of interacting self-driven particles; these are of current interest in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. In this paper we point out the common features of these model systems and emphasize the crucial differences in their physical properties.

Item Type:Article
Source:Copyright of this article belongs to Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
ID Code:7887
Deposited On:25 Oct 2010 09:46
Last Modified:16 May 2016 17:59

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