Simulation Study on The Sorting of Chiral Active Brownian Colloids By Optical Barriers
Abstract
This study considers the dynamics of chiral active Brownian particles (CABPs) through numerical simulations conducted under the influence of an optical field. Unlike passive Brownian particles, CABPs possess a propulsion mechanism and a chiral torque that induce curved trajectories, complex motion, and out-of-equilibrium behavior. These properties make CABPs interesting for both theoretical research and potential applications in the control of active matter. In simulations, CABPs are modeled as spherical particles with a refractive index suspended in a fluid medium (water). When illuminated by an optical field, these particles experience optical forces due to the momentum transfer from the light field, which affects their motion. This interaction provides a powerful method for guiding, confining, or sorting them based on their motile characteristics. As a result, the study demonstrates that optical fields can serve as both static and dynamic barriers, significantly influencing the trajectories of particles. The findings present that optical landscapes can separate and orient CABPs based on their propulsion speed and chirality. The study emphasizes the potential of optical manipulation as a tunable technique for chiral active particles in complex environments.
Keywords
References
- [1] Ramaswamy S., The Mechanics and Statistics of Active Matter, Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, 1 (2010) 323–45.
- [2] Marchetti M. C., Joanny J. F., Ramaswamy S., Liverpool T. B., Prost J., Rao M. and Simha R. A., Hydrodynamics of soft active matter, Rev. Mod. Phys., 85 (2013) 1143–89.
- [3] Erdmann U., Ebeling W., Schimansky-Geier L. and Schweitzer F., Brownian particles far from equilibrium, Eur. Phys. J. B, 15 (2000) 105–13.
- [4] Hagen B. ten, Teeffelen S. van and Löwen H., Brownian motion of a self-propelled particle, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, 23 (2011) 194119.
- [5] Basu U., Majumdar S. N., Rosso A. and Schehr G., Active Brownian motion in two dimensions, Phys. Rev. E, 98 (2018) 062121.
- [6] Callegari A. and Volpe G., Numerical Simulations of Active Brownian Particles, Flowing Matter ed: F Toschi and M Sega (Cham: Springer International Publishing), (2019) pp 211–38.
- [7] Volpe G., Gigan S. and Volpe G., Simulation of the active Brownian motion of a microswimmer, American Journal of Physics, 82 (2014) 659–64.
- [8] Bechinger C., Di Leonardo R., Löwen H., Reichhardt C., Volpe G. and Volpe G., Active particles in complex and crowded environments, Rev. Mod. Phys., 88 (2016) 045006.
- [9] Elgeti J., Winkler R. G. and Gompper G., Physics of microswimmers—single particle motion and collective behavior: a review, Rep. Prog. Phys., 78 (2015) 056601.
- [10] Gompper G., Bechinger C., Herminghaus S., Isele-Holder R., Kaupp U. B., Löwen H., Stark H. and Winkler R. G., Microswimmers – From Single Particle Motion to Collective Behavior, Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top., 225 (2016) 2061–4.