Uphill drift in the absence of current in single-file diffusion

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Sorkin, Benjamin, Dean, David S.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Sorkin, Benjamin
Dean, David S.
author_facet Sorkin, Benjamin
Dean, David S.
contents Single-file diffusion is a paradigmatic model for the transport of Brownian colloidal particles in narrow one-dimensional channels, such as those found in certain porous media, where the particles cannot cross each other. We consider a system where a different external uniform potential is present to the right and left of an origin. For example, this is the case when two channels meeting at the origin have different radii. In equilibrium, the chemical potential of the particles are equal, the density is thus lower in the region with the higher potential, and by definition there is no net current in the system. Remarkably, a single-file tracer particle initially located at the origin, with position denoted by $Y(t)$, exhibits an average up-hill drift toward the region of highest potential. This drift has the late time behavior $\langle Y(t)\rangle= C t^{1/4}$, where the prefactor $C$ depends on the initial particle arrangement. This surprising result is shown analytically by computing the first two moments of $Y(t)$ through a simple and physically-illuminating method, and also via extensive numerical simulations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_18538
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Uphill drift in the absence of current in single-file diffusion
Sorkin, Benjamin
Dean, David S.
Statistical Mechanics
Single-file diffusion is a paradigmatic model for the transport of Brownian colloidal particles in narrow one-dimensional channels, such as those found in certain porous media, where the particles cannot cross each other. We consider a system where a different external uniform potential is present to the right and left of an origin. For example, this is the case when two channels meeting at the origin have different radii. In equilibrium, the chemical potential of the particles are equal, the density is thus lower in the region with the higher potential, and by definition there is no net current in the system. Remarkably, a single-file tracer particle initially located at the origin, with position denoted by $Y(t)$, exhibits an average up-hill drift toward the region of highest potential. This drift has the late time behavior $\langle Y(t)\rangle= C t^{1/4}$, where the prefactor $C$ depends on the initial particle arrangement. This surprising result is shown analytically by computing the first two moments of $Y(t)$ through a simple and physically-illuminating method, and also via extensive numerical simulations.
title Uphill drift in the absence of current in single-file diffusion
topic Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.18538