We study the transport properties of a system of active particles moving at constant speed in a heterogeneous two-dimensional space. The spatial heterogeneity is modeled by a random distribution of obstacles, which the active particles avoid. Obstacle avoidance is characterized by the particle turning speed $\gamma$. We show, through simulations and analytical calculations, that the mean square displacement of particles exhibits two regimes as function of the density of obstacles ${\rho }_o$ and $\gamma$. We find that at low values of $\gamma$, particle motion is diffusive and characterized by a diffusion coefficient that displays a minimum at an intermediate obstacle density ${\rho }_o$. We observe that in high obstacle density regions and for large $\gamma$ values, spontaneous trapping of active particles occurs. We show that such trapping leads to genuine subdiffusive motion of the active particles. We indicate how these findings can be used to fabricate a filter of active particles.

• Received 10 July 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.160604