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Dynamical equivalence for the caging-release colloidal problem

Ivany del Carmen Romero-Sánchez

Leonardo Dagdug

Erick Sarmiento-Gómez*

  • Departamento de Ingeniería Física, División de Ciencias e Ingenierías, Universidad de Guanajuato, Loma del Bosque 103, Lomas del Campestre, León 37150, Guanajuato, Mexico and Centro de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos (CECyT 17), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Blvd. Calíope 1055, Ejido la Joya, León, Guanajuato, México

  • Departamento de Ingeniería Física, División de Ciencias e Ingenierías, Universidad de Guanajuato, Loma del Bosque 103, Lomas del Campestre, León 37150, Guanajuato, Mexico

  • *Contact author: esarmiento@fisica.ugto.mx
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Phys. Rev. E 114, 044119 – Published 13 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5wb4-6pvf

Abstract

Brownian particles in complex media often exhibit diffusion-caging-diffusion dynamics: short-time diffusion, an intermediate plateau due to diffusion hindrance, and long-time diffusion, usually attributed to cage-release events. We analyze an alternative mechanism that reproduces the same phenomenology: a perfectly confining cage undergoing stochastic motion that transports the particle without allowing escape. Despite their distinct physical origins, both mechanisms yield identical MSD behavior with the canonical three-regime structure. In contrast, the non-Gaussian parameter (NGP) provides a clear discriminator between them. For the two models presented, we provide analytical results for the NGP that conceptually support the main findings obtained from the simulation. These results offer diagnostic tools for microrheology and refine the interpretation of dynamical signatures near the glass transition.

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References (36)

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Phys. Rev. E 114, 044119– Published 13 October, 2026
  • Received 2 March 2026
  • Revised 18 September 2026
  • Accepted 24 September 2026
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