Dynamics and steady states of a tracer particle in a confined critical fluid

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex dynamics of a tracer particle in a confined critical fluid, revealing how interactions and boundary conditions influence its steady states and motion through analytical and numerical methods.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for understanding nonlinear, non-Markovian tracer dynamics in confined critical fluids, including derivation of an effective Fokker-Planck equation.

Findings

Tracer experiences a fluctuation-induced Casimir potential.

Spatially dependent mobility and noise affect tracer behavior.

Breaking detailed balance can cause tracer attraction to boundaries.

Abstract

The dynamics and the steady states of a point-like tracer particle immersed in a confined critical fluid are studied. The fluid is modeled field-theoretically in terms of an order parameter (concentration or density field) obeying dissipative or conservative equilibrium dynamics and (non-)symmetry-breaking boundary conditions. The tracer, which represents, e.g., a colloidal particle, interacts with the fluid by locally modifying its chemical potential or its correlations. The coupling between tracer and fluid gives rise to a nonlinear and non-Markovian tracer dynamics, which is investigated here analytically and via numerical simulations for a one-dimensional system. From the coupled Langevin equations for the tracer-fluid system we derive an effective Fokker-Planck equation for the tracer by means of adiabatic elimination as well as perturbation theory within a weak-coupling approximation. The effective tracer dynamics is found to be governed by a fluctuation-induced (Casimir) potential, a spatially dependent mobility, and a spatially dependent (multiplicative) noise, the characteristics of which depend on the interaction and the boundary conditions. The steady-state distribution of the tracer is typically inhomogeneous. Notably, when detailed balance is broken, the driving of the temporally correlated noise can induce an effective attraction of the tracer towards a boundary.