Authors:
- Nominated by the University of Texas at Austin, USA, as an outstanding Ph.D. thesis
- Represents an important step toward studying the quantum behaviors of a macroscopic particle trapped in vacuum
- Presents the first measurement of the instantaneous velocity of a particle undergoing Brownian motion
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Springer Theses (Springer Theses)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
Glass microspheres were trapped in water, air, and vacuum with optical tweezers; and a detection system that can monitor the position of a trapped microsphere with Angstrom spatial resolution and microsecond temporal resolution was developed to study the Brownian motion of a trapped microsphere in air over a wide range of pressures. The instantaneous velocity of a Brownian particle, in particular, was studied for the very first time, and the results provide direct verification of the Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution and the energy equipartition theorem for a Brownian particle. For short time scales, the ballistic regime of Brownian motion is observed, in contrast to the usual diffusive regime.
In vacuum, active feedback is used to cool the center-of-mass motion of an optically trapped microsphere from room temperature to a minimum temperature of about 1.5 mK. This is an important step toward studying the quantum behaviors of a macroscopic particle trapped in vacuum.
Authors and Affiliations
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University of California, Berkeley, USA
Tongcang Li
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Fundamental Tests of Physics with Optically Trapped Microspheres
Authors: Tongcang Li
Series Title: Springer Theses
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6031-2
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4614-6030-5Published: 02 November 2012
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4939-4671-6Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4614-6031-2Published: 02 November 2012
Series ISSN: 2190-5053
Series E-ISSN: 2190-5061
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 125
Topics: Thermodynamics, Quantum Physics, Nanoscale Science and Technology, Low Temperature Physics, Complex Systems, Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems