Area and perimeter covered by anomalous diffusion processes

Abstract

We investigate the geometric properties of two-dimensional continuous time random walks that are used extensively to model stochastic processes exhibiting anomalous diffusion in a variety of different fields. Using the concept of subordination, we determine exact analytical expressions for the average perimeter and area of the convex hulls for this class of non-Markovian processes. As the convex hull is a simple measure to estimate the home range of animals, our results give analytical estimates for the home range of foraging animals that perform sub-diffusive search strategies such as some Mediterranean seabirds and animals that ambush their prey. We also apply our results to Levy flights where possible. © 2013 IOP Publishing and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.