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Updated: Mar 3, 2026

Generation and Control of Electrohydrodynamic Flows in Aqueous Electrolyte Solutions
Published on: September 7, 2018
Anomalous Diffusion in Driven Electrolytes due to Hydrodynamic Fluctuations
1University of Oxford, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS), 37077 Göttingen, Germany and Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
The stochastic dynamics of tracers arising from hydrodynamic fluctuations in a driven electrolyte is studied using a self-consistent field-theory framework in all dimensions. A plethora of scaling behavior that includes two distinct regimes of anomalous diffusion is found, and the crossovers between them are characterized in terms of the different tuning parameters. A short-time ballistic regime is found to be accessible beyond two dimensions, whereas a long-time diffusive regime is found to be present only at four dimensions and above. The results showcase how long-ranged hydrodynamic interactions can dominate the dynamics of nonequilibrium steady states in ionic suspensions and produce strong fluctuations despite the presence of Debye screening.
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