Anomalously slow transport in single-file diffusion with slow binding kinetics

Andrew Rutenberg
Dalhousie University
Friday, November 10, 2017 - 12:00pm
McLennan Physical Laboratories, Room MP505
Special Seminar
Abstract: 
We computationally study the effects of binding kinetics to the channel wall, leading to transient immobility, on the diffusive transport of particles within narrow channels, that exhibit single-file diffusion (SFD). We find that slow binding kinetics leads to an anomalously slow diffusive transport. Remarkably, the scaled diffusivity characterizing transport exhibits scaling collapse with respect to the occupation fraction p of sites along the channel. We present a simple “cage-physics” picture that captures the characteristic occupation fraction and the asymptotic dependence on p. We confirm subdiffusive behavior of tracer particles with slow binding and demonstrate that it is controlled by the same diffusivity as particle transport.
Host: 
Prof. Sidhartha Goyal
BiophysTO Lunchtime Talks