Paper detail

Diffusion, super-diffusion and coalescence from single step

From the exact single step evolution equation of the two-point correlation function of a particle distribution subjected to a stochastic displacement field $\bu(\bx)$, we derive different dynamical regimes when $\bu(\bx)$ is iterated to build a velocity field. First we show that spatially uncorrelated fields $\bu(\bx)$ lead to both standard and anomalous diffusion equation. When the field $\bu(\bx)$ is spatially correlated each particle performs a simple free Brownian motion, but the trajectories of different particles result to be mutually correlated. The two-point statistical properties of the field $\bu(\bx)$ induce two-point spatial correlations in the particle distribution satisfying a simple but non-trivial diffusion-like equation. These displacement-displacement correlations lead the system to three possible regimes: coalescence, simple clustering and a combination of the two. The existence of these different regimes, in the one-dimensional system, is shown through computer simulations and a simple theoretical argument.