Objectives of the Study

1. construct periodic potential landscapes in a

(a) wave-like form with varying depth (1.5mm and 2mm)
and (b) inclined structure with a maximum height 6mm;
(a) (b)

1.5mm/2.0mm
2. obtain single-particle trajectories of an AGC under
varying particle concentration;

It is observed that the AGC has a persistent type of motion caused by the uneven
distribution of its mass. Also, it can be seen from the figures that the AGC explored
the finite boundary within the potential well.
2. obtain single-particle trajectories of an AGC under
varying particle concentration;

• Trajectory of an AGC

It is observed that the AGC has a persistent type of motion caused by the uneven
distribution of its mass. Also, it can be seen from the figures that the AGC explored
the finite boundary within the potential well.
• N = 2 AGCs

It is found that both of the trajectory of

each tracer showed the finite boundary
effect of the potential wave.

• N = 5 AGCs
It can be found that both the tracer on
different landscapes hopped to the next
nearest potential well. Also, the
boundary effect of the potential waves is
observed from the trajectory of each
tracer.

• N = 10 AGCs With the particle concentration of 10

AGCs, it is found that each of the tracers
on both potential landscapes hopped to
the next nearest potential well. The
boundary effect of the potential waves is
also observed from the plotted trajectory
of each tracer.
• N = 15 AGCs

At particle concentration, N = 15 AGCs

and 20 AGCs, it is found that each of
the tracer on both potential
landscapes hopped to the next
nearest potential well and the
• N = 20 AGCs
boundary effect of the potential
waves is also observed from the
figures.
 3. investigate the dynamics of a single AGC on
various potential landscapes through the use of the
mean-squared displacement (MSD);

The fitted curve then suggests that at short time scale, ∆t < 0.2s, MSD ∝ ∆t1.5 which is
super-diffusive and 1s > ∆t > 0.2s, MSD ∝ ∆t0.5 which is sub-diffusive. On the other
hand, at longer time scales, ∆t > 1s, the MSD begins to saturate at √MSD ≈ 27mm.
This result is attributed to the finite size or the boundary of the potential landscape.
• Superimposed MSDs of AGC for varied N

It can be observed that there is a sudden change in the MSDs at ∆t = 0.2 s (orange dashed
line). Given that the slope of each of these MSDs are determined using allometric fitting
function, it was found that at short time scale, ∆t < 0.2 s, the MSDs ∝ ∆t>1 which suggests
that the dynamics of the AGC is superdiffusive. While at time scale, 5 s > ∆t > 0.2 s, MSDs
∝ ∆t<1 which is subdiffusive. Also, it is found that at longer time scale, ∆t > 5 s, the MSD
begins to saturate at √MSD ≈ 27mm resulting to the finite size of the potential landscape.
• Migration Dynamics of AGCs with N = 15, 20

It is found that the initial particle concentration decreases as time t increases.

Because of the number of particles occupied mostly the region within the potential
well, some of the AGCs hopped to the nearest potential well as the system started to
vibrate vertically and the AGCs collided with its neighboring particles.
 4. investigate the dynamics of a single AGC on an
inclined periodic potential landscape via calculation
of effective temperature and transition probability;

EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURE
Initially, the AGC is placed at the
lowest point (θ = 0°) and as the
external force is produced by the
shaker, a persistent motion of the
AGC can be observed as shown in
the Fig. b which is due to its
uneven mass distribution. It can
also be seen from the trajectory
plot that the AGC was able to
climb up to ∝ 225° with h ≈
5.25mm.
• Trajectory of an AGC on varied N
• N = 2 AGCs
• It can be observed that the
maximum point that tracer particle
reached was at ∝ 245° with h ≈
4.75mm.
• N = 3 AGCs
• The tracer was able to ascend a
maximum height of h ≈ 5.75mm.
• N = 4 AGCs and 5 AGCs
• It can be seen from the figures that
both the tracer particle for each N
was able to move around the
inclined potential landscape. This
mechanism is possible depending on
the particle concentration since it is
due to the inelastic collisions that
the AGCs encounter which could
either assist or hinder them to
move.
Generally, the random motion of the
particles is influenced by the forces
exerted by the EM shaker and by
interaction of the neighboring particles.
• Position Probability Distribution

It is found that the probability of an AGC to

move up is decreasing exponentially and favors
a clockwise direction as observed from its
trajectory plot which is probably due to its
initial condition as to where its head is
directed to. . The solid curve corresponds to
the Boltzmann distribution function,
−𝑚𝑔ℎ
(1)
𝑘𝐵 𝑇𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝑃 𝜃 ≈𝑒
Thus, from the fitted curve obtained, we can
determine the effective temperature T1eff of
the AGC.
We also investigated the effect of the presence of other AGCs in the position probability
distribution of a single particle.

The tracer particle from each N is observed to have exponentially decreasing probability.
However, from the fitted Boltzmann curve, deviations from the curve are observed
implying that the system is out of equilibrium.
• Velocity Probability Distribution
The velocity is calculated from measuring the displacement of the tracer particle at
the minima with ∆t = 1.0s using the trajectory data for each particle tracer.

It can be observed that at N = 2 AGCs, the

distribution of the velocity is considerably
narrower. Comparing the plotted velocities for
1 AGC and 2 AGCs, it can be seen that there is
a significant difference between their
distributions. This observation implies that
when an AGC is placed alongside the tracer
particle, there’s a possibility that it hinders the
tracer particle from moving around the
potential landscape and hence, decreases its
displacement. On the other hand, for 1 AGC,
only the vibration from the EM shaker affects
the movement of the AGC.
• Velocity Probability Distribution
The velocity is calculated from measuring the displacement of the tracer particle at
the minima with ∆t = 1.0s using the trajectory data for each particle tracer.

By increasing further, the number of AGCs, the

velocity distribution for N = 3, 4, and 5 AGCs
widens. This means that as the number of
particle increases, the displacement of an
AGC increases.
• Velocity Probability Distribution

We plot P(v), the probability distribution of the

velocity for a single AGC where it can be seen
that at low v, the distribution can reasonably
be described as Gaussian. However, P(v)
deviates systematically from the fitted curve
thus it is non-Gaussian.
The solid curve corresponds to the Gaussian
distribution defined as
−𝑚𝑣 2
1 (2)
2𝑘𝐵 𝑇𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝑃 𝑣 ≈ 𝑒
2𝜋𝜎 2 𝑡

The figures show that there are deviations

from the tails of the fitted curves which
indicate that the behaviour of the AGC
tracer particle with varied particle
concentration N is still non-Gaussian
which is a consequence of correlations
brought about by inelastic collisions.
• Velocity Probability Distribution

From this plot, it is found that with the increasing number of AGC,
the deviation from the Gaussian curve is narrower. This result
implies that the tracer’s velocity probability distribution approaches
a Gaussian-like curve as the number of AGC is increased.
Effective Temperature

It is observed that both effective

temperatures T(1)eff and T(2)eff differs
significantly from each other on
varied particle concentration N.

Moreover, the large values of effective

temperatures Teff are expected since
granular matter is an athermal system.
[C. Song, et. al., PNAS vol. 102 no. 7 3399-2304, (2005)]
DETAILED BALANCE ANALYSIS
For systems far from equilibrium, the degree of irreversibility can be measured using
the following equation
𝑃(𝑥𝑎 → 𝑥𝑏 ) ∆𝐸
= 𝑒 𝑘𝐵 𝑇
𝑃(𝑥𝑏 → 𝑥𝑎 )

From the results, the forward and reverse transition

probabilities are observed to be different. Also, with
different time intervals, their respective transition
probability profiles spread more for higher ∆t.
DETAILED BALANCE ANALYSIS
Transition Probability of an AGC on varied N
The forward and reverse transition
probabilities are observed to be different
and with time intervals ∆t = 0.1s, 0.3s
and 0.5s, their respective transition
probability profiles spread more for
higher ∆t. The straight line that can be
seen from each of the 2 and 3 AGCs
plots shows that the tracer particle is not
observed within this angular positions.

Transitions can be observed from both

clockwise and counter-clockwise
directions of the tracer particle but their
occurrence is rare. No particle is
observed to have a transition for more
than ∆θ = 30 from each direction.
DETAILED BALANCE ANALYSIS
Potential Energy

From the plotted ratio of forward and

reverse transition probabilities, we
expect the results to be independent
with time and reflect the potential
energy as stated from the pioneering
works on this topic. Consequently, in
our calculation, the ratio of the
transition probabilities shows variation
at different values of ∆t and did not
entirely reconstruct the potential.
DETAILED BALANCE ANALYSIS
Furthermore, we calculated the ratio of transition probabilities to e∆E/kBT where T is the
effective temperature measured from the previous chapter. It can be seen that the ratio
varies significantly for varying particle concentration implying that our calculations do not
∆𝐸
𝑃(𝑥𝑎 →𝑥𝑏 )
agree with =𝑒 𝑘𝐵 𝑇 .
𝑃(𝑥𝑏 →𝑥𝑎 )

Thus, this disagreement between our results

and the theoretical pre diction may be due to
the spatially complex potential landscape or
due to the interactions between the particles.