2000/04/06 by Alex J. Levine, T. C. Lubensky · 6 citations
Chemical Engineering · Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Classical mechanics #Compressibility #Granular flow and fluidized beds #Homogeneous #Material Dynamics and Properties #Materials science #Mechanics #Microrheology #Particle (ecology) #Physics #Range (aeronautics) #Rheology and Fluid Dynamics Studies #SPHERES #Shear modulus #Statistical physics #Thermodynamics #Viscoelasticity #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.85.1774
4 pages, 1 figure
arxiv created 2000/04/06 · openalex publication_date 2000/08/21 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study the dynamics of rigid spheres embedded in viscoelastic media and address two questions of importance to microrheology. First, we calculate the complete response to an external force of a single bead in a homogeneous elastic network viscously coupled to an incompressible fluid. From this response function we find the frequency range where the standard assumptions of microrheology are valid. Second, we study fluctuations when embedded spheres perturb the media around them and show that mutual fluctuations of two separated spheres provide a more accurate determination of the complex shear modulus than do the fluctuations of a single sphere.