Anomalous diffusion is an established phenomenon but still a theoretical challenge in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Physical models are built incrementally, and the most recent and most general family is based on the fractional Brownian motion (fBm) with a random diffusion coefficient (superstatistical fBm) together with a time-dependent random Hurst parameter. We provide here a dynamical foundation for such general family of models. We consider a dynamical system describing the motion of a test-particle surrounded by N Brownian particles with different masses. This dynamic is governed by underdamped Langevin equations. Physical principles of conservation of momentum and energy are taken into account. We prove that, in the limit N → ∞, the test-particle diffuses in time according to a quite general (non-Markovian) Gaussian process whose covariance function is determined by the distribution of the masses of the surround-particles. In particular, with proper choices of the distribution of the masses of the surround-particles, we obtain fBm together with a number of other special cases of interest in modeling anomalous diffusion including time-dependent anomalous exponent. Furthermore, when the ensemble heterogeneity of the surround-particles embodying the environment becomes non-uniform and joins with the individual inhomogeneity of the test-particles, we show that, in the limit N → ∞, the test-particle diffuses in time according to a quite general conditionally Gaussian process that can be calibrated into a fBm with random diffusion coefficient and random time-dependent Hurst parameter. We conclude our study by reporting the generalised Kolmogorov–Fokker–Planck equations associated to these highly general processes.
Bender et al. (Fri,) studied this question.