First-passage statistics of colloids on fractals: Theory and experimental realization.

ABSTRACT: In nature and technology, particle dynamics frequently occur in complex environments, for example in restricted geometries or crowded media. These dynamics have often been modeled invoking a fractal structure of the medium although the fractal structure was only indirectly inferred through the dynamics. Moreover, systematic studies have not yet been performed. Here, colloidal particles moving in a laser speckle pattern are used as a model system. In this case, the experimental observations can be reliably traced to the fractal structure of the underlying medium with an adjustable fractal dimension. First-passage time statistics reveal that the particles explore the speckle in a self-similar, fractal manner at least over four decades in time and on length scales up to 20 times the particle

SUBMITTER: Zunke C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8782457 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature