Hydrodynamic Coupling of Two Brownian Spheres to a Planar Surface

Eric R. Dufresne; Todd M. Squires; Michael P. Brenner; David G. Grier

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3317

Hydrodynamic Coupling of Two Brownian Spheres to a Planar Surface

Eric R. Dufresne, Todd M. Squires, Michael P. Brenner, and David G. Grier

Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3317 – Published 9 October 2000

Abstract

We describe direct imaging measurements of the collective and relative diffusion of two colloidal spheres near a flat plate. The bounding surface modifies the spheres' dynamics, even at separations of tens of radii. This behavior is captured by a stokeslet analysis of fluid flow driven by the spheres' and wall's no-slip boundary conditions. In particular, this analysis reveals surprising asymmetry in the normal modes for pair diffusion near a flat surface.

Received 22 March 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3317

Authors & Affiliations

Eric R. Dufresne¹, Todd M. Squires², Michael P. Brenner³, and David G. Grier¹

¹Department of Physics, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
²Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
³Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139