Sub-diffusive scaling with power-law trapping times

Thermally driven diffusive motion of a particle underlies many physical and biological processes. In the presence of traps and obstacles, the spread of the particle is substantially impeded, leading to subdiffusive scaling at long times. The statistical mechanical treatment of diffusion in a disordered environment is often quite involved. In this short review, we present a simple and unified view of the many quantitative results on anomalous diffusion in the literature, including the scaling of the diffusion front and the mean first-passage time. Various analytic calculations and physical arguments are examined to highlight the role of dimensionality, energy landscape, and rare events in affecting the particle trajectory statistics. The general understanding that emerges will aid the interpretation of relevant experimental and simulation results. (topical review - statistical physics and complex systems)