Related papers: Colloidal Pivots Enable Brownian Metamaterials and…
In systems possessing spatial or dynamical symmetry breaking, Brownian motion combined with symmetric external input signals, deterministic or random, alike, can assist directed motion of particles at the submicron scales. In such cases,…
Machines enabled the Industrial Revolution and are central to modern technological progress: A machine's parts transmit forces, motion, and energy to one another in a predetermined manner. Today's engineering frontier, building artificial…
The non-thermal nature of self-propelling colloids offers new insights into non-equilibrium physics. The central mathematical model to describe their trajectories is active Brownian motion, where a particle moves with a constant speed,…
Nanomechanical photonic metamaterials provide a wealth of active switching, nonlinear and enhanced light-matter interaction functionalities by coupling optically and mechanically resonant subsystems. Thermal (Brownian) motion of the…
We experimentally demonstrate the emergence of directional rotation in thermally active-passive colloidal structures under optical confinement. The observed handedness of rotation of the structure can be controlled by changing the relative…
Colloidal matter undergoing Brownian motion serves as a model system to study various physical phenomena. Understanding the effect of external perturbation on the assembly and dynamics of Brownian colloids has emerged as a relevant research…
Brownian motion near soft surfaces is a situation widely encountered in nanoscale and biological physics. However, a complete theoretical description is lacking to date. Here, we theoretically investigate the dynamics of a two-dimensional…
The miniaturization of machines towards the micron and nanoscales requires the development of joint-like elements that enable and constrain motion. We present a facile method to create colloidal joints, that is, anisotropic colloidal…
Living organisms have developed advanced motion strategies for efficient space exploration, serving as inspiration for the movements of microrobots. These real-life strategies often involve anomalous dynamics displaying random movement…
Flexible mechanical structures can undergo large deformations under small loads, enabling large, complex, and nonlinear wave responses under finite-frequency driving. Here, we study a dynamically driven canonical flexible mechanical…
We propose a general framework to study transformations that drive an underdamped Brownian particle in contact with a thermal bath from an equilibrium state to a new one in an arbitrarily short time. To this end, we make use of a time and…
We show that the correlated stochastic fluctuation of the friction coefficient can give rise to long-range directional motion of a particle undergoing Brownian random walk in a constant periodic energy potential landscape. The occurrence of…
Molecular motors are essential to the living, they generate additional fluctuations that boost transport and assist assembly. Self-propelled colloids, that consume energy to move, hold similar potential for the man-made assembly of…
Shape changes resulting from segmental flexibility are ubiquitous in molecular and biological systems, and are expected to affect both the diffusive motion and (biological) function of dispersed objects. The recent development of colloidal…
We combine experiments and theory to investigate the dynamics and orientational fluctuations of ferromagnetic microellipsoids that form a ribbon-like structure due to attractive dipolar forces. When assembled in the ribbon, the ellipsoids…
Achieving precise control of colloidal self-assembly into specific patterns remains a longstanding challenge due to the complex process dynamics. Recently, machine learning-based state representation and reinforcement learning-based control…
Brownian motors are nanoscale machines that utilize asymmetric physical interactions to generate directed motion in space. The operation mechanism relies on the random motion of nanoscale elements generated by thermal activation. On the…
Brownian dynamics of colloidal particles on complex surfaces has found important applications in diverse physical, chemical and biological processes. However, current Brownian dynamics simulation algorithms mostly work for relatively simple…
The influence of microscopic force fields on the motion of Brownian particles plays a fundamental role in a broad range of fields, including soft matter, biophysics, and active matter. Often, the experimental calibration of these force…
Hypothesis: The collective dynamics and self-assembly of colloids floating at a fluid/fluid interface is a balance between deterministic lateral interaction forces, viscous resistance to colloid motion along the surface and thermal…