title: From normal to anomalous diffusion in comb-like structures in three dimensions.
abstract: Diffusion in a comb-like structure, formed by a main cylindrical tube with identical periodic dead ends of cylindrical shape, occurs slower than that in the same system without dead ends. The reason is that the particle, entering a dead end, interrupts its propagation along the tube axis. The slowdown becomes stronger and stronger as the dead end length increases, since the particle spends more and more time in the dead ends. In the limiting case of infinitely long dead ends, diffusion becomes anomalous with the exponent equal to 1/2. We develop a formalism which allows us to study the mean square displacement of the particle along the tube axis in such systems. The formalism is applicable for an arbitrary dead end length, including the case of anomalous diffusion in a tube with infinitely long dead ends. In particular, we demonstrate how intermediate anomalous diffusion arises when the dead ends are long enough.
authors.affiliation: Program in Physical Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Berezhkovskii
authors.affiliation: Program in Physical Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dagdug
authors.affiliation: Program in Physical Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Sergey M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bezrukov
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004058:Diffusion; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015233:Models, Statistical; D058608:Nanopores / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*
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