title: Colloids exposed to random potential energy landscapes: From particle number density to particle-potential and particle-particle interactions.
abstract: Colloidal particles were exposed to a random potential energy landscape that has been created optically via a speckle pattern. The mean particle density as well as the potential roughness, i.e., the disorder strength, were varied. The local probability density of the particles as well as its main characteristics were determined. For the first time, the disorder-averaged pair density correlation function g((1))(r) and an analogue of the Edwards-Anderson order parameter g((2))(r), which quantifies the correlation of the mean local density among disorder realisations, were measured experimentally and shown to be consistent with replica liquid state theory results.
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, Heinrich Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bewerunge
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl St., Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
authors.forename: Ankush
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, Heinrich Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Ronja F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Capellmann
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, Heinrich Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Platten
authors.affiliation: TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad 500075, India.
authors.forename: Surajit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, Heinrich Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Egelhaaf