Simulation of active Brownian particles in optical potentials
Author
Volpe, G.
Gigan, S.
Volpe, Giovanni
Date
2014Source Title
Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 9164, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XI
Print ISSN
0277-786X
Publisher
SPIE
Volume
9164
Pages
1 - 5
Language
English
Type
Conference PaperItem Usage Stats
151
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124
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Abstract
Optical forces can affect the motion of a Brownian particle. For example, optical tweezers use optical forces to trap a particle at a desirable position. Unlike passive Brownian particles, active Brownian particles, also known as microswimmers, propel themselves with directed motion and thus drive themselves out of equilibrium. Understanding their motion in a confined potential can provide insight into out-of-equilibrium phenomena associated with biological examples such as bacteria, as well as with artificial microswimmers. We discuss how to mathematically model their motion in an optical potential using a set of stochastic differential equations and how to numerically simulate it using the corresponding set of finite difference equations.
Keywords
Optical forcesBrownian motion
Stochastic differential equations
Numerical simulations
Active Brownian particles
Microswimmers