Energetics of active fluctuations in living cell

Étienne Fodor (1) , Kiyoshi Kanazawa (2) , Hisao Hayakawa (2) , Paolo Visco (1) , Frédéric van Wijland (1)

1 MSC - Matière et Systèmes Complexes
2 YITP - Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics [Kyoto]

The nonequilibrium activity taking place in a living cell can be monitored with a tracer embedded in the medium. While microrheology experiments based on optical manipulation of such probes have become increasingly standard, we put forward a number of experiments with alternative protocols that, we claim, will provide new insight into the energetics of active fluctuations. These are based on either performing thermodynamic–like cycles in control-parameter space, or on determining response to external perturbations of the confining trap beyond simple translation. We illustrate our proposals on an active itinerant Brownian oscillator modeling the dynamics of a probe embedded in a living medium.

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Étienne Fodor, Kiyoshi Kanazawa, Hisao Hayakawa, Paolo Visco, Frédéric van Wijland. Energetics of active fluctuations in living cell. Physical Review E : Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 2014, 90, pp.42724. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevE.90.042724⟩. ⟨hal-01081354⟩