Abstract
A magnetotactic bacterium aligns itself along the magnetic field. When the field is reversed the bacterium makes a U-turn in the surrounding water. The turning is described by a Fokker-Planck equation for the angle ν, which is singular at the endpoints ν=0 and ν=π. The time needed for turning can be found exactly as a first-passage time. The probability distribution itself can be found in terms of an approximation for low temperature. To cover the regions near the endpoints singular perturbation theory is needed.
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van Kampen, N.G. The turning of magnetotactic bacteria. J Stat Phys 80, 23–33 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02178351
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02178351