Stochastic fractal behavior in concentration fluctuation and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

Biophys Chem. 1999 Jul 19;80(1):1-5. doi: 10.1016/s0301-4622(99)00031-9.

Abstract

Fluctuations in the concentration of Brownian particles in one and two dimensions, or any reasonable measurement of the concentration such as in fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, is shown to be a stochastic fractal with a long tail. Being singular at omega = 0, the power spectrum of the fluctuation S(omega) approximately omega-1/2 for diffusion in one dimension, approximately log omega in two dimensions, but non-singular in three dimensions. This discovery provides one simple physical mechanism for possible long-memory fractal behavior, and its implications to various biological processes are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Biophysical Phenomena
  • Biophysics*
  • Chemical Phenomena
  • Chemistry, Physical
  • Diffusion
  • Fractals
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Motion
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence
  • Stochastic Processes