2 research outputs found
Nonequilibrium Probability Currents in Optically-Driven Colloidal Suspensions
In the absence of directional motion it is often hard to recognize athermal
fluctuations. Probability currents provide such a measure in terms of the rate
at which they enclose area in phase space. We measure this area enclosing rate
for trapped colloidal particles, where only one particle is driven. By
combining experiment, theory, and simulation, we single out the effect of the
different time scales in the system on the measured probability currents. In
this controlled experimental setup, particles interact hydrodynamically. These
interactions lead to a strong spatial dependence of the probability currents
and to a local influence of athermal agitation. In a multiple-particle system,
we show that even when the driving acts only on one particle, probability
currents occur between other, non-driven particles. This may have significant
implications for the interpretation of fluctuations in biological systems
containing elastic networks in addition to a suspending fluid.Comment: Submission to SciPost Physic