title: Testing the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution using Brownian particles.
abstract: We report on shot-noise limited measurements of the instantaneous velocity distribution of a Brownian particle. Our system consists of a single micron-sized glass sphere held in an optical tweezer in a liquid in equilibrium at room temperature. We provide a direct verification of a modified Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution and modified energy equipartition theorem that account for the kinetic energy of the liquid displaced by the particle. Our measurements confirm the distribution over a dynamic range of more than six orders of magnitude in count-rate and five standard deviations in velocity.
authors.forename: Jianyong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Akarsh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simha
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kheifets
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Raizen