Search for Food of Birds, Fish and Insects

This book chapter introduces to the problem to which extent search strategies of foraging biological organisms can be identified by statistical data analysis and mathematical modeling. A famous paradigm in this field is the Levy Flight Hypothesis: It states that under certain mathematical conditions Levy flights, which are a key concept in the theory of anomalous stochastic processes, provide an optimal search strategy. This hypothesis may be understood biologically as the claim that Levy flights represent an evolutionary adaptive optimal search strategy for foraging organisms. Another interpretation, however, is that Levy flights emerge from the interaction between a forager and a given (scale-free) distribution of food sources. These hypotheses are discussed controversially in the current literature. We give examples and counterexamples of experimental data and their analyses supporting and challenging them.

Comparison of pure and combined search strategies for single and multiple targets

We address the generic problem of random search for a point-like target on a line. Using the measures of search reliability and efficiency to quantify the random search quality, we compare Brownian search with Levy search based on long-tailed jump length distributions. We then compare these results with a search process combined of two different long-tailed jump length distributions. Moreover, we study the case of multiple targets located by a Levy searcher.

A Fractional Diffusion Equation for an n-Dimensional Correlated Levy Walk

Levy walks define a fundamental concept in random walk theory which allows one to model diffusive spreading that is faster than Brownian motion. They have many applications across different disciplines. However, so far the derivation of a diffusion equation for an n-dimensional correlated Levy walk remained elusive. Starting from a fractional Klein-Kramers equation here we use a moment method combined with a Cattaneo approximation to derive a fractional diffusion equation for superdiffusive short range auto-correlated Levy walks in the large time limit, and solve it. Our derivation discloses different dynamical mechanisms leading to correlated Levy walk diffusion in terms of quantities that can be measured experimentally.

Anomalous fluctuation relations

We study Fluctuation Relations (FRs) for dynamics that are anomalous, in the sense that the diffusive properties strongly deviate from the ones of standard Brownian motion. We first briefly review the concept of transient work FRs for stochastic dynamics modeled by the ordinary Langevin equation. We then introduce three generic types of dynamics generating anomalous diffusion: Levy flights, long-time correlated Gaussian stochastic processes and time-fractional kinetics. By combining Langevin and kinetic approaches we calculate the work probability distributions in the simple nonequilibrium situation of a particle subject to a constant force. This allows us to check the transient FR for anomalous dynamics. We find a new form of FRs, which is intimately related to the validity of fluctuation-dissipation relations. Analogous results are obtained for a particle in a harmonic potential dragged by a constant force. We argue that these findings are important for understanding fluctuations in experimentally accessible systems. As an example, we discuss the anomalous dynamics of biological cell migration both in equilibrium and in nonequilibrium under chemical gradients.

From Deterministic Chaos to Anomalous Diffusion

This is an easy-to-read introduction to foundations of deterministic chaos, deterministic diffusion and anomalous diffusion. The first part introduces to deterministic chaos in one-dimensional maps in form of Ljapunov exponents and dynamical entropies. The second part outlines the concept of deterministic diffusion. Then the escape rate formalism for deterministic diffusion, which expresses the diffusion coefficient in terms of the above two chaos quantities, is worked out for a simple map. Part three explains basics of anomalous diffusion by demonstrating the stochastic approach of continuous time random walk theory for an intermittent map. As an example of experimental applications, the anomalous dynamics of biological cell migration is discussed.

Understanding Anomalous Transport in Intermittent Maps: From Continuous Time Random Walks to Fractals

We show that the generalized diffusion coefficient of a subdiffusive intermittent map is a fractal function of control parameters. A modified continuous time random walk theory yields its coarse functional form and correctly describes a dynamical phase transition from normal to anomalous diffusion marked by strong suppression of diffusion. Similarly, the probability density of moving particles is governed by a time-fractional diffusion equation on coarse scales while exhibiting a specific fine structure. Approximations beyond stochastic theory are derived from a generalized Taylor-Green-Kubo formula.