Valentin Blickle

Thermodynamics of a colloidal particle in a time-dependent nonharmonic potential.

We study the motion of an overdamped colloidal particle in a time-dependent nonharmonic potential. We demonstrate the first lawlike balance between applied work, exchanged heat, and internal energy on the level of a single trajectory. The observed distribution of applied work is distinctly non-Gaussian in good agreement with numerical calculations. Both the Jarzynski relation and a detailed fluctuation theorem are verified with good accuracy.

Einstein Relation Generalized to Nonequilibrium

The Einstein relation connecting the diffusion constant and the mobility is violated beyond the linear response regime. For a colloidal particle driven along a periodic potential imposed by laser traps, we test the recent theoretical generalization of the Einstein relation to the nonequilibrium regime which involves an integral over measurable velocity correlation functions.

Distribution of entropy production for a colloidal particle in a nonequilibrium steady state

For a colloidal particle driven by a constant force across a periodic potential, we investigate the distribution of entropy production both experimentally and theoretically. For short trajectories, the fluctuation theorem holds experimentally. The mean entropy production rate shows two regimes as a function of the applied force. Theoretically, both mean and variance of the pronounced non-Gaussian distribution can be obtained from a differential equation in good agreement with the experimental data.

Evanescent light scattering with magnetic colloids

We measure magnetic interactions between paramagnetic colloidal beads and an external magnetic field by using total internal reflection microscopy (TIRM). Our results demonstrate that TIRM can be applied to absorptive paramagnetic probe particles and thus extends the range of interaction types which can be addressed with this method. With our setup, we can detect magnetic forces on single superparamagnetic particle ranging from about 10 to 600 fN.

Characterizing Potentials by a Generalized Boltzmann Factor

Based on the concept of a nonequilibrium steady state, we present a method to experimentally determine energy landscapes acting on colloidal systems. By measuring the stationary probability distribution and the current in the system, we explore potential landscapes with barriers up to several hundred k_BT. As an illustration, we use this approach to measure the effective diffusion coefficient of a colloidal particle moving in a tilted potential.

Experimental accessibility of generalized fluctuation-dissipation relations for nonequilibrium steady states

We study the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for a brownian particle driven into a nonequilibrium steady state experimentally. We validate two different theoretical variants of a generalized fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the choice of observables crucially affects the accuracy of determining the nonequilibrium response from steady state nonequilibrium fluctuations.

Noninvasive Measurement of Dissipation in Colloidal Systems

According to Harada and Sasa [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 130602 (2005)], heat production generated in a nonequilibrium steady state can be inferred from measuring response and correlation functions. In many colloidal systems, however, it is a nontrivial task to determine response functions, whereas details about spatial steady state trajectories are easily accessible. Using a simple conditional averaging procedure, we show how this fact can be exploited to reliably evaluate average heat production. We test this method using Brownian dynamics simulations, and apply it to experimental data of an interacting driven colloidal system.

Relaxation of a colloidal particle into a nonequilibrium steady state

We study the relaxation of a single colloidal sphere which is periodically driven between two nonequilibrium steady states. Experimentally, this is achieved by driving the particle along a toroidal trap imposed by scanned optical tweezers. We find that the relaxation time after which the probability distributions have been relaxed is identical to the decay of the velocity autocorrelation function measured in a steady state. In quantitative agreement with theoretical calculations the relaxation time strongly increases when driving the system further away from thermal equilibrium.