Abstract
Levitated Nanoparticles have received much attention for their potential to perform quantum mechanical experiments even at room temperature. However, even in the regime where the particle dynamics are purely classical, there is a lot of interesting physics that can be explored. Here we review the application of levitated nanoparticles as a new experimental platform to explore stochastic thermodynamics in small systems.
Highlights
In 1827, botanist Robert Brown noted the erratic movement of tiny particles emitted from pollen grains in a liquid [1]
“it is impossible—at least for ultramicroscopic particles—to ascertain the instantaneous velocity by observation”. This changed with the advent of optical tweezers, a workhorse for studying thermodynamics and non-equilibrium physics of small systems
The process by which a surface exchanges thermal energy with a gas is called accommodation, which is characterized by the accommodation coefficient cacc = ( Tem − the impinging gas particles (Tgas) )/( Tint − Tgas ), where Tem is the temperature of the gas molecules emitted from the particle surface
Summary
In 1827, botanist Robert Brown noted the erratic movement of tiny particles emitted from pollen grains in a liquid [1]. Einstein further concluded that “the velocity and direction of motion of the particle will be already very greatly altered in an extraordinarily short time, and, in a totally irregular manner” and that “it is impossible—at least for ultramicroscopic particles—to ascertain the instantaneous velocity by observation” This changed with the advent of optical tweezers, a workhorse for studying thermodynamics and non-equilibrium physics of small systems. The exquisite control achieved in these experiments does bring us closer to the quantum regime, it opens up a wide range of exciting new experiments in the classical domain They allow the study of Brownian motion of a single well-isolated particle with high temporal and spatial resolution and controllable coupling to the environment, thereby rebutting Einstein’s original statement [9,19] and providing new insights into microscale thermodynamic processes in the underdamped regime.
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