Brownian motion near a soft surface

Brownian motion near soft surfaces is a situation widely encountered in nanoscale and biological physics. However, a complete theoretical description is lacking to date. Here, we theoretically investigate the dynamics of a two-dimensional colloid in an arbitrary external potential and near a soft surface. The latter is minimally modelled by a Winkler’s foundation, and we restrict the study to the colloidal motion in the direction perpendicular to the surface. We start from deterministic hydrodynamic considerations, by invoking the already-established leading-order soft-lubrication forces acting on the particle. Importantly, a negative softness-induced and position-dependent added mass is identified. We then incorporate thermal fluctuations in the description. In particular, an effective Hamiltonian formulation is introduced and a temperature-dependent generalized potential is constructed in order to ensure equilibrium properties for the colloidal position. From these considerations and the Fokker–Planck equation, we then derive the relevant Langevin equation, which self-consistently allows to recover the deterministic equation of motion at zero temperature. Interestingly, besides an expected multiplicative-noise feature, the noise correlator appears to be modified by the surface softness. Moreover, a softness-induced temperature-dependent spurious drift term has to be incorporated within the Ito prescription. Finally, using numerical simulations with various initial conditions and parameter values, we statistically analyze the trajectories of the particle when placed within a harmonic trap and in presence of the soft surface. This allows us to: (i) quantify further the influence of surface softness, through the added mass, which enhances the velocity fluctuations; and (ii) show that intermediate-time diffusion is unaffected by softness, within the assumptions of the model.