Feedback control of colloidal transport

Abstract

We review recent work on feedback control of one-dimensional colloidal systems, both with instantaneous feedback and with time delay. The feedback schemes are based on measurement of the average particle position, a natural control target for an ensemble of colloidal particles, and the systems are investigated via the Fokker-Planck equation for overdamped Brownian particles. Topics include the reversal of current and the emergence of current oscillations, transport in ratchet systems, and the enhancement of mobility by a co-moving trap. Beyond the commonly considered case of non-interacting systems, we also discuss the treatment of colloidal interactions via (dynamical) density functional theory and provide new results for systems with attractive interactions.