Brownian motion: Einstein made mistake?
Postulates of Albert Einstein concerning Brownian motion are wrong. To this conclusion came international group of scientists from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Texas University and European molecular biology laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, after investigation of one particle under microscope.
Conducting for the first time, experiment of Brownian motion tracing of a particle with nanometers and microseconds precision revealed that motion has another mechanism than described by Einstein hundred years ago. Einstein supposed that chaotic movement of particles is caused by thermal oscillation of molecules of liquid. Scientists found out that the origin of motion is more complicated and depends on many fundamental processes inside of a system. Moreover, since particle moves chaotically in its medium it can be used as "scout" in nanoworld. Researchers managed to obtain information about system analyzing trajectory of particle Brownian motion in it.
To conduct experiment was used photon force microscope which allowed to register motion of particle with microsecond frequency and to prove experimentally introduced theory. As a result classical formula of Brownian motion was corrected which allowed description of nanoscale process.
For her work in field of photon microscopy leading researcher of project from EPFL doctor Sylvia Jeney was awarded by Switzerland Society of Optics and Microscopy.
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