| Autor: |
Rohwer CM; Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Heisenbergstrasse 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.; 4th Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany., Solon A; Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA., Kardar M; Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA., Krüger M; Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Heisenbergstrasse 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.; 4th Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany. |
| Abstrakt: |
Nonequilibrium systems with conserved quantities like density or momentum are known to exhibit long-ranged correlations. This, in turn, leads to long-ranged fluctuation-induced (Casimir) forces, predicted to arise in a variety of nonequilibrium settings. Here, we study such forces, which arise transiently between parallel plates or compact inclusions in a gas of particles, following a change ("quench") in temperature or activity of the medium. Analytical calculations, as well as numerical simulations of passive or active Brownian particles, indicate two distinct forces: (i) The immediate effect of the quench is adsorption or desorption of particles of the medium to the immersed objects, which in turn initiates a front of relaxing (mean) density. This leads to time-dependent density-induced forces. (ii) A long-term effect of the quench is that density fluctuations are modified, manifested as transient (long-ranged) (pair-)correlations that relax diffusively to their (short-ranged) steady-state limit. As a result, transient fluctuation-induced forces emerge. We discuss the properties of fluctuation-induced and density-induced forces as regards universality, relaxation as a function of time, and scaling with distance between objects. Their distinct signatures allow us to distinguish the two types of forces in simulation data. Our simulations also show that a quench of the effective temperature of an active medium gives rise to qualitatively similar effects to a temperature quench in a passive medium. Based on this insight, we propose several scenarios for the experimental observation of the forces described here. |
