Brownian motion of droplets induced by thermal noise
arXiv:2311.13320 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.109.024208
Abstract
Brownian motion (BM) is pivotal in natural science for the stochastic motion of microscopic droplets. In this study, we investigate BM driven by thermal composition noise at sub-micro scales, where inter-molecular diffusion and surface tension both are significant. To address BM of microscopic droplets, we develop two stochastic multi-phase-field models coupled with the full Navier-Stokes equation, namely Allen-Cahn-Navier-Stokes (ACNS) and Cahn-Hilliard-Navier-Stokes (CHNS). Both models are validated against capillary wave theory; the Einstein's relation for the Brownian coefficient at thermodynamic equilibrium is recovered. Moreover, by adjusting the co-action of the diffusion, Marangoni effect, and viscous friction, two non-equilibrium phenomena are observed. (I) The droplet motion transits from the Brownian to Ballistic with increasing Marangoni effect which is emanated from the energy dissipation mechanism distinct from the conventional fluctuation-dissipation theorem. (II) The deterministic droplet motion is triggered by the noise induced non-uniform velocity field which leads to a novel droplet coalescence mechanism associated with the thermal noise.
References in corpus (6)
- "Diffusing diffusivity": A model for anomalous and "anomalous yet Brownian" diffusion
- Colloidal gelation with variable attraction energy
- Modeling Multi-phase Flow using Fluctuating Hydrodynamics
- Non-Gaussian diffusion near surfaces
- Active Brownian motion of emulsion droplets: Coarsening dynamics at the interface and rotational diffusion
- Two-dimensional Brownian motion of anisotropic dimers