A probabilistic model of diffusion through a semi-permeable barrier

Abstract

Diffusion through semi-permeable structures arises in a wide range of processes in the physical and life sciences. Examples at the microscopic level range from artificial membranes for reverse osmosis to lipid bilayers regulating molecular transport in biological cells to chemical and electrical gap junctions. There are also macroscopic analogues such as animal migration in heterogeneous landscapes. It has recently been shown that one-dimensional diffusion through a barrier with constant permeability κ 0 is equivalent to snapping out Brownian motion (BM). The latter sews together successive rounds of partially reflecting BMs that are restricted to either the left or the right of the barrier. Each round is killed when its Brownian local time exceeds an exponential random variable parameterized by κ 0 . A new round is then immediately started in either direction with equal probability. In this article, we use a combination of renewal theory, Laplace transforms and Green’s function methods to show how an extended version of snapping out BM provides a general probabilistic framework for modelling diffusion through a semi-permeable barrier. This includes modifications of the diffusion process away from the barrier (e.g. stochastic resetting) and non-Markovian models of membrane absorption that kill each round of partially reflected BM. The latter leads to time-dependent permeabilities.