Active transport and cluster formation on 2D networks

Abstract

We introduce a model for active transport on inhomogeneous networks embedded in a diffusive environment and investigate the formation of particle clusters. In the presence of a hard-core interaction, cluster sizes exhibit an algebraically decaying distribution in a large parameter regime, indicating the existence of clusters on all scales. The results are compared with a diffusion limited aggregation model and active transport on a regular network. For both models we observe aggregation of particles to clusters which are characterized by a finite size-scale if the relevant time-scales and particle densities are considered.

replaced; phenomenological analysis added