Brownian motion in a rotating fluid: Diffusivity is a function of the rotation rate

Gregory Ryskin*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

The phenomenological relations between thermodynamic fluxes and forces are normally assumed to be invariant with respect to arbitrary motion of the frame of reference. We describe a breakdown of this invariance strong enough to be observable. It is shown that the diffusivity in a rotating fluid is anisotropic and also smaller in magnitude than in a fluid at rest in an inertial frame, giving rise to a diffusion analog of the Hall effect. For large Brownian particles (e.g., biological macromolecules) the diffusivity may decrease by 50% at the rotation speeds achievable in ultracentrifuges.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1442-1445
Number of pages4
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume61
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - 1988

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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