Intermittent search strategies

This review examines intermittent target search strategies, which combine phases of slow motion, allowing the searcher to detect the target, and phases of fast motion during which targets cannot be detected. It is first shown that intermittent search strategies are actually widely observed at various scales. At the macroscopic scale, this is, for example, the case of animals looking for food; at the microscopic scale, intermittent transport patterns are involved in a reaction pathway of DNA-binding proteins as well as in intracellular transport. Second, generic stochastic models are introduced, which show that intermittent strategies are efficient strategies that enable the minimization of search time. This…

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  Agence Nationale de la Recherche