Recoil experiments determine the eigenmodes of viscoelastic fluids

Abstract

We experimentally investigate the recoil dynamics of a colloidal probe particle after shearing it with constant velocity through a viscoelastic fluid. The recoil displays two distinct timescales which are in excellent agreement with a microscopic model built on a particle being linked to two bath particles by harmonic springs. This model yields analytical expressions which reproduce all experimental protocols, including additional waiting periods before particle release. Notably, two sets of timescales appear, corresponding to reciprocal and nonreciprocal eigenmodes of the model.