PHY-606 / Soft Matter – Concepts and Methods

Problem Set for Practice

Brownian Motion

1. Consider a colloidal particle of radius 0.1 μm, density 2 g cm-3 moving in water (density
1 g cm-3, viscosity 1 mPa.s). Answer the following questions:
(a) Calculate the sedimentation velocity Vs of the particle.
(b) Calculate the diffusion constant D of the particle.
(c) Calculate the average distance Vst that the particle
moves in time t, and its root-MSD √(Dt) for t = 1 ms, 1
s, 1 hour, 1 day. Discuss when do we need to consider Brownian motion.

𝑑𝑥 𝑘
2. The Langevin equation for a Brownian particle in a harmonic potential =− 𝑥+
𝑑𝑡 𝛾
𝑥
𝑣r (𝑡) = − + 𝑣r (𝑡), gives a steady-state solution for 𝑥(𝑡) as 𝑥(𝑡) =
𝜏
𝑡 −(𝑡−𝑡1 )/𝜏
∫0 𝑑𝑡1 𝑒 𝑣r (𝑡1 ). Answer the following questions:
(a) Calculate 〈𝑥(𝑡)2 〉 from the solution 𝑥(𝑡) using the time-correlation of random-
𝐹𝑟 (𝑡)
velocity (𝑣r (𝑡) = , 𝐹𝑟 (𝑡) is the random force) 〈𝑣𝑟 (𝑡)𝑣𝑟 (𝑡 ′ )〉 = 2𝐷𝛿(𝑡 − 𝑡 ′ ).
𝛾
(b) Calculate the time correlation function 〈𝑥(𝑡)𝑥(𝑡 ′ )〉 for 𝑡 > 𝑡 ′, and 𝑡 < 𝑡 ′.
𝐷
(c) Show that 〈𝑥̇ (𝑡)𝑥̇ (0)〉 = 2𝐷𝛿(𝑡) − 𝜏 𝑒 −|𝑡|/𝜏 starting from the Langevin equation
given above.

3. Consider the electrical circuit given at the right; the circuit is

made of a resistor (resistance R) and a capacitor (capacitance
C). Charge Q stored in the capacitor is 0 on average, but can be
positive or negative due to the thermal fluctuations of charge
carriers. Answer the following questions:

(a) Write down the equation describing the fluctuating charge Q(t), under the influence
of a randomly fluctuating voltage 𝜓𝑟 (𝑡). Comparing the equation with the Langevin
equation, show that the fluctuating voltage satisfies the fluctuation-dissipation
relation (also called as Nyquist theorem in electrical engineering context),
〈𝜓𝑟 (𝑡)𝜓𝑟 (0)〉 = 2𝑅𝑘𝐵 𝑇𝛿(𝑡).
(b) Calculate the time correlation functions 〈𝑄(𝑡)𝑄(0)〉 and 〈𝐼(𝑡)𝐼(0)〉, where 𝐼(𝑡) =
𝑄̇(𝑡) is the current flowing in the resistor.

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 PHY-606 / Soft Matter – Concepts and Methods

4. Consider two Brownian particles connected by a harmonic spring, as shown in the figure
𝑑𝑥1
at right. The Langevin equations for their positions 𝑥1 and 𝑥2 are written as: 𝜁 =
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑥2
−𝑘(𝑥1 − 𝑥2 ) + 𝐹𝑟1 (𝑡), and 𝜁 = −𝑘(𝑥2 − 𝑥1 ) + 𝐹𝑟2 (𝑡). Answer the following
𝑑𝑡
questions:
(𝑒)
(a) Suppose that a constant force 𝐹1 is applied to the particle 1 for t > 0. Calculate the
average displacements of the particles 〈𝑥1(𝑡) − 𝑥1 (0)〉𝐹(𝑒) and 〈𝑥2 (𝑡) − 𝑥2 (0)〉𝐹(𝑒) in
1 1
this situation.
2
(b) Discuss the behavior of 〈(𝑥1(𝑡) − 𝑥1(0)) 〉 at short time (𝑡 ≪ 𝜁/𝑘) and at long time
(𝑡 ≫ 𝜁/𝑘).

5. Consider a Brownian particle in one dimension along x-axis. There is a source of

propulsion that drives the particle at a constant speed along the positive x direction.
Hence the velocity of the particle at any time t can be given by, v(t) = vr (t) + vx, where vr
(t) is the random velocity associated with the random force that the particle experiences,
and vx is the time-independent propulsion speed. For this system

(a) Calculate and comment on the velocity autocorrelation function < v(t)v(0)>

(b) From the velocity autocorrelation, calculate the force autocorrelation < ξ(t)ξ(0)>

(c) Comment on the validity of fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) from (ii)

(d) Calculate the displacement autocorrelation <(x(t1)-x(0))(x(t2)-x(0))>

(e) From displacement autocorrelation calculate and comment on MSD <(x(t) - x(0))2>

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