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Statistical physics

Self-aware particles

Nature volume 478, pages 45–46 (2011)Cite this article

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The signature of the self-interactions that a colloid in solution undergoes has been observed. The observation has implications for single-particle studies of soft matter and biological systems. See Letter p.85

Have you ever floated a small ball on the surface of a body of water? If you have, you'll probably know that, no matter how careful you are, the ball usually moves because of the waves created by its impact on the water surface. The ball moves around until all of the waves' energy has dissipated and the water becomes still. During this process, the ball interacts with the water and with itself. This striking macroscopic phenomenon should be valid for all situations in which an object moves in an incompressible medium. Any particle completely immersed in a liquid should also strongly self-interact. However, both models of and experiments on particle fluctuations on micrometre-length scales often dismiss this hydrodynamic self-interaction — which can be justified if water motion stops on timescales that are experimentally inaccessible. However, on page 85 of this issue, Franosch et al.1 show that it is possible to detect the hydrodynamic self-interaction of a particle in solution undergoing Brownian motion.

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Figure 1: Coloured noise.

References

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  1. Ulrich F. Keyser is in the Biological and Soft Systems Sector, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.,

    Ulrich F. Keyser

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  1. Ulrich F. Keyser
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Correspondence to Ulrich F. Keyser.

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Keyser, U. Self-aware particles. Nature 478, 45–46 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/478045a

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