The anomalous distributions and Soret coefficient in a nonequilibrium colloid system

Abstract

The density distributions and Soret coefficient in a nonequilibrium colloidal system with nonuniform temperature are studied by the overdamped Langevin equation for Brownian motion in an inhomogeneous strong friction medium. Based on the relation between the temperature gradient, the interaction potential and the q-parameter in nonextensive statistics, We show that the colloidal particle density can be a function of the temperature and anomalously follows the noted alpha-distribution, or equivalently it can also be a function of the potential energy and follows Tsallis distribution. With the q-parameter we can establish a new formula of the Soret coefficient and thus, bridge the gap between the ideally theoretical Soret coefficient and available experiments.