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research article
Direct observation of nondiffusive motion of a Brownian particle
The thermal position fluctuations of a single micron-sized sphere immersed in a fluid were recorded by optical trapping interferometry with nanometer spatial and microsecond temporal resolution. We find, in accord with the theory of Brownian motion including hydrodynamic memory effects, that the transition from ballistic to diffusive motion is delayed to significantly longer times than predicted by the standard Langevin equation. This delay is a consequence of the inertia of the fluid. On the shortest time scales investigated, the sphere's inertia has a small, but measurable, effect.
Type
research article
Web of Science ID
WOS:000232558400006
Authors
Publication date
2005
Published in
Volume
95
Issue
16
Start page
160601/1
End page
160601/4
Peer reviewed
REVIEWED
EPFL units
Available on Infoscience
April 23, 2007
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