Trajectory approach to two-state kinetics of single particles on sculpted energy landscapes.
We study the trajectories of a single colloidal particle as it hops between two energy wells which are sculpted using optical traps. Whereas the dynamical behaviors of such systems are often treated by master-equation methods that focus on particles as actors, we analyze them instead using a trajectory-based variational method called maximum caliber (MaxCal). We show that the MaxCal strategy accurately predicts the full dynamics that we observe in the experiments: From the observed averages, it predicts second and third moments and covariances, with no free parameters. The covariances are the dynamical equivalents of Maxwell-like equilibrium reciprocal relations and Onsager-like dynamical relations.
Wu
David
D
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA.
Ghosh
Kingshuk
K
Inamdar
Mandar
M
Lee
Heun Jin
HJ
Fraser
Scott
S
Dill
Ken
K
Phillips
Rob
R
D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D013816:Thermodynamics
D003102:Colloids