Response to Huang, Wu and Florin, "Comment on Influence of non-conservative optical forces ..." (arxiv:0806.4632)

TL;DR

This paper defends previous findings of nonequilibrium circulation in optical trapping experiments against critiques, reaffirming the validity of the original results despite claims of inconclusiveness.

Contribution

It provides a rebuttal to critiques by Huang, Wu, and Florin, confirming the original evidence of toroidal currents in colloidal particles under optical tweezers.

Findings

Original circulation evidence remains valid

Brownian dynamics simulations support circulation

Realistic radiation pressure models are consistent with observed motion

Abstract

Recently, Huang, Wu and Florin posted a Comment (0806.4632v1) on our preprint (0804.0730v1) describing nonequilibrium circulation of a colloidal sphere trapped in a optical tweezer. The Comment suggests that evidence for toroidal probability currents obtained from experiments and simulations in the original posting should be considered inconclusive. The authors' concerns are based on two claims: (1) that Brownian dynamics simulations of the trapped particle's motions reveal no statistically significant circulation, and (2) that a realistic description of the radiation pressure acting on the trapped sphere is inconsistent with the motion we have described. In this Reply, we demonstrate both of these claims to be incorrect, and thus the original results and conclusions in 0804.0730v1 to be still valid.