https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/s10189-026-00572-0
Perspective - Flowing Matter
Perspective on “Active Brownian particles moving in a random Lorentz gas”
Theoretical Division and Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 87545, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
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Received:
11
February
2026
Accepted:
25
February
2026
Published online:
2
April
2026
Abstract
Self-propelled active matter can exhibit vastly different behavior than systems with purely Brownian motion. In Eur. Phys. J. E 40, 23 (2017), Zeitz, Wolf, and Stark compared an active matter particle with a Brownian particle moving in a random obstacle array. They showed that near the obstacle percolation density, both Brownian and active particles exhibit the same subdiffusive behavior, but the active particle reaches a steady state more rapidly. They also found that for high activity, the active particle has a lower effective diffusion than the Brownian particle due to the increased self-trapping effect generated by the activity. This result opens new directions for the study of active matter in disordered media, including bacteria in porous media, active colloids on quenched disorder, and active particles in crowded environments.
© The Author(s) 2026
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