Emergence of inertia in the low-Reynolds regime of self-diffusiophoretic motion.

For isotropic swimming particles driven by self-diffusiophoresis at zero Reynolds number (where particle velocity responds instantaneously to applied force), the diffusive timescale of emitted solute can produce an emergent quasi-inertial behavior. These particles can orbit in a central potential and reorient under second-order dynamics, not the first-order dynamics of classical zero-Reynolds motion. They are described by a simple effective model that embeds their history-dependent behavior as an effective inertia, this being the most primitive expression of memory. The system can be parameterized with dynamic quantities such as particle size and swimming speed, without detailed knowledge of the diffusiophoretic mechanism.