hide
Free keywords:
Flowing matter: Nonlinear Physics and Mesoscale Modeling
Abstract:
We investigate the stochastic dynamics of one sedimenting active Brownian particle in three
dimensions under the influence of gravity and passive fluctuations in the translational and rotational
motion. We present an analytical solution of the Fokker-Planck equation for the stochastic process which
allows us to describe the dynamics of one active Brownian particle in three dimensions. We address the
time evolution of the density, the polarization, and the steady-state solution. We also perform Brownian
dynamics simulations and study the effect of the activity of the particles on their collective motion. These
results qualitatively agree with our model. Finally, we compare our results with experiments (J. Palacci et
al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 088304 (2010)) and find very good agreement.