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Anomalous Diffusion in Driven Electrolytes due to Hydrodynamic Fluctuations

Ramin Golestanian*

  • *Contact author: ramin.golestanian@ds.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 068301 – Published 10 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/jvmh-6j8z

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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See Also

Superdiffusion and Antidiffusion in an Aligned Active Suspension

Lokrshi Prawar Dadhichi, Suvendra K. Sahoo, K. Vijay Kumar, and Sriram Ramaswamy
Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 128302 (2026)

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 068301– Published 10 February, 2026
  • Received 9 October 2025
  • Accepted 15 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society.

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