title: Analysis of Confined Random Walkers with Applications to Processes Occurring in Molecular Aggregates and Immunological Systems.
abstract: Explicit solutions are presented in the Laplace and time domains for a one-variable Fokker-Planck equation governing the probability density of a random walker moving in a confining potential. Illustrative applications are discussed in two unrelated physical contexts: quantum yields in a doped molecular crystal or photosynthetic system, and the motion of signal receptor clusters on the surface of a cell encountered in a problem in immunology. An interesting counterintuitive effect concerning the consequences of confinement is found in the former, and some insights into the driving force for microcluster centralization are gathered in the latter application.
authors.affiliation: Consortium of the Americas for Interdisciplinary Science and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico , Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, United States.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chase
authors.affiliation: BioFrontiers Center and Department of Physics and Energy Science, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs , Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918, United States.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Spendier
authors.affiliation: Consortium of the Americas for Interdisciplinary Science and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico , Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, United States.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Kenkre
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011789:Quantum Theory; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology*; D012996:Solutions; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D012996:Solutions