2015/03/01 by A. Bhattacharyay, Bhattacharyay, A.
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #FOS: Physical sciences #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #Stochastic processes and statistical mechanics #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1503.00223
This revised version more clearly describes the cases of vertical and horizontal diffusivity as could be seen in an experiment as has been previously done by Faucheux and Libchaber. This version also includes proposal of a new experiment involving complex molecules
openalex publication_date 2015/03/01 · arxiv created 2016/12/19 · arxiv updated 2016/12/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
An alternative equilibrium stochastic dynamics for a Brownian particle in inhomogeneous space is derived. Such a dynamics can model the motion of a complex molecule in its conformation space when in equilibrium with a uniform heat bath. The derivation is done by a simple generalization of the formulation due to Zwanzig for a Brownian particle in homogeneous heat bath. We show that if the system couples to different number of bath degrees of freedom at different conformations then the alternative model is derived. We discuss results of an experiment by Faucheux and Libchaber which probably has indicated possible limitation of the Boltzmann distribution as equilibrium distribution of a Brownian particle in inhomogeneous space and propose experimental verification of the present theory using similar methods.