Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-and-computational-biology-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/paper-1/d7/a/solution

Let be the displacement in step , so the random walk position is . The single-step expected value and second moment are
By linearity of expected value, . The steps are independent random variables, so for , . Expanding the square gives the mean squared displacement
These are ensemble expected values; the empirical average over a finite number of independent cells fluctuates about them. The expected mean squared displacement itself does not depend on .

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