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Observation and control of nonmonotonic recoils in a viscoelastic fluid

Salil S. Vaidya1, Lokesh Muruga1, Juliana Caspers2, Matthias Krüger2, and Clemens Bechinger1

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033084 – Published 23 July, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/74nx-3t1h

Abstract

We experimentally study the relaxation dynamics of a colloidal particle in a micellar viscoelastic fluid following different driving protocols. When the particle is driven at constant velocity for a finite duration, its recovery to equilibrium is always monotonic. In contrast, altering the driving velocity during the protocol induces nonmonotonic relaxation. Our results are in quantitative agreement with the analytical solution of a minimal micromechanical model exhibiting only two distinct eigenmodes independent of the specific protocol. Notably, the model enables selective suppression of one or both modes—an effect confirmed experimentally. Because the model is broadly applicable to diverse viscoelastic fluids, our findings offer a general framework for tailoring relaxation dynamics in complex environments.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033084– Published 23 July, 2025
  • Received 29 April 2025
  • Accepted 26 June 2025
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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.

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