Effect of collective molecular reorientations on Brownian motion of colloids in nematic liquid crystal

Abstract

In the simplest realization of Brownian motion, a colloidal sphere moves randomly in an isotropic fluid; its mean squared displacement (MSD) grows linearly with time $\textit{\tau}$. Brownian motion in an orientationally ordered fluid, a nematic, is anisotropic, with the MSD being larger along the axis of molecular orientation, called the director. We show that at short time scales, the anisotropic diffusion in a nematic becomes also anomalous, with the MSD growing slower (subdiffusion) and faster (superdiffusion) than $\textit{\tau}$. The anomalous diffusion occurs at time scales that correspond to the relaxation times of director deformations around the sphere. Once the nematic melts, the diffusion becomes normal and isotropic. The experiment shows that the deformations and fluctuations of long-range orientational order profoundly influence diffusive regimes.