Brownian motion is the stochastic, irregular movement of microscopic particles suspended in a fluid, arising from incessant bombardment by thermally agitated solvent molecules. Phenomenologically, it is modeled as a continuous-time random walk with independent, normally distributed increments and stationary variance proportional to time, and in the limit as time steps go to zero, it is described by a Wiener process. As a physical phenomenon, Brownian motion underlies diffusion, is characterized quantitatively by the diffusion coefficient via the Einstein relation, and plays a fundamental role in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and fluctuation phenomena in condensed matter systems.
A new method developed at the University of Warwick offers the first simple and predictive way to calculate how irregularly shaped nanoparticles—a dangerous class of airborne pollutant—move through the air.
General Physics
Oct 29, 2025
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16
Nanoparticles—the tiniest building blocks of our world—are constantly in motion, bouncing, shifting, and drifting in unpredictable paths shaped by invisible forces and random environmental fluctuations.
Nanophysics
Jul 15, 2025
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45
In molecular shuttles, a ring molecule is threaded onto a linear molecular strand and can move between two portions of the strand, called stations, in response to external stimuli. Chemical stimuli, light or mechanical forces ...
Nanophysics
Feb 20, 2025
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40
Space weather is a double-edged sword: It's capable of delivering majestic phenomena like the auroras near Earth's poles, but it can also have more alarming consequences with significant national security implications.
Planetary Sciences
Oct 23, 2024
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Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have managed to enhance the framework of Brownian reservoir computing by recording and transferring hand gestures to the system that then used skyrmions to detect these ...
General Physics
Sep 16, 2024
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73
The ratchet mechanism is a fascinating energy-conversion system that converts disorderly or random motion into orderly, directed movement through a process known as spontaneous rectification. It is a critical component of ...
General Physics
Aug 20, 2024
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53
When it comes to studying particles in motion, experimentalists have followed a 100-year-old theory that claims the microscopic motion of a particle is determined by random collisions with molecules of the surrounding medium, ...
Nanophysics
Mar 14, 2023
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146
Based on the principle of interaction between matter and light, a new method has been developed to track and observe the Brownian motion of fast-moving nanometer-sized molecules, and measure the different fluorescence signals ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 27, 2021
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