Condensed Matter Theory

Abstract:

The propulsion velocity of active colloids that asymmetrically catalyze a chemical reaction is probed experimentally as a function of their sizes. It is found that over the experimentally accessible range, the velocity decays as a function of size, with a rate that is compatible with an inverse size dependence. A diffusion-reaction model for the concentrations of the fuel and waste molecules that takes into account a two-step process for the asymmetric catalytic activity on the surface of the colloid is shown to predict a similar behavior for colloids at the large size limit, with a saturation for smaller sizes.

Abstract:

The effect of the microscopic structure of a pore on polymer translocation is studied using Langevin dynamics simulation, and the consequence of introducing patterned stickiness inside the pore is investigated. It is found that the translocation process is extremely sensitive to the detailed structure of such patterns with faster than exponential dependence of translocation times on the stickiness of the pore. The stochastic nature of the translocation process leads to discernable differences between how polymers with different sequences go through specifically patterned pores. This notion is utilized to propose a stochastic sensing protocol for polynucleotides, and it is demonstrated that the method, which would be significantly faster than the existing methods, could be made arbitrarily robust.

Abstract:

Colloids with patchy metal coating under laser irradiation could act as local heat sources and generate temperature gradients that could induce self-propulsion and interactions between them. The collective behavior of a dilute solution of such thermally active particles is studied using a stochastic formulation. It is found that when the Soret coefficient is positive, the system could be described in a stationary state by the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation and could adopt density profiles with significant depletion in the middle region when confined. For colloids with a negative Soret coefficient, the system can be described as a dissipative equivalent of a gravitational system. It is shown that in this case the thermally active colloidal solution could undergo an instability at a critical laser intensity, which has similarities to a supernova explosion. © 2012 American Physical Society.