Escape dynamics of active particles in multistable potentials

Abstract

Rare transitions between long-lived metastable states underlie a great variety of physical, chemical and biological processes. Our quantitative understanding of reactive mechanisms has been driven forward by the insights of transition state theory. In particular, the dynamic framework developed by Kramers marks an outstanding milestone for the field. Its predictions, however, do not apply to systems driven by non-conservative forces or correlated noise histories. An important class of such systems are active particles, prominent in both biology and nanotechnology. Here, we trap a silica nanoparticle in a bistable potential. To emulate an active particle, we subject the particle to an engineered external force that mimics self-propulsion. We investigate the active particle's transition rate between metastable states as a function of friction and correlation time of the active force. Our experiments reveal the existence of an optimal correlation time where the transition rate is maximized. This novel \emph{active turnover} is reminiscent of the much celebrated Kramers turnover despite its fundamentally different origin. Our observations are quantitatively supported by a theoretical analysis of a one-dimensional model. Besides providing a deeper understanding of the escape dynamics of active particles in multistable potentials, our work establishes a new, versatile experimental platform to study particle dynamics in non-equilibrium settings.

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Cited by in corpus (29)

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• Escape kinetics of self-propelled particles from a circular cavity
• Arrhenius law for interacting diffusive systems
• Direct evaluation of rare events in active matter from variational path sampling
• Optimal navigation strategy of active Brownian particles in target-search problems
• A Brownian cyclic engine operating in a viscoelastic active suspension
• Control of Active Brownian Particles: An exact solution
• Harvesting information to control non-equilibrium states of active matter
• Shortcuts to equilibrium with a levitated particle in the underdamped regime
• Run-and-tumble particle in one-dimensional potentials: mean first-passage time and applications
• Hamiltonian reconstruction via ringdown dynamics
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• The Influence of Particle Softness on Active Glassy Dynamics
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• Escape Dynamics in an Anisotropically Driven Brownian Magneto-System
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• Depinning transition of self-propelled particles
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• Sparse identification of quasipotentials via a combined data-driven method
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• Effects of Near-Field Hydrodynamic Interactions on Bacterial Dynamics Near a Solid Surface
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• Arrhenius-Type Description and Noise-Composition Dependence of Single-Vacancy Hopping in Active Brownian Crystals