The colour of thermal noise in classical Brownian motion: a feasibility study of direct experimental observation

One hundred years after Einstein modelled Brownian motion, a central aspect of this motion in incompressible fluids has not been verified experimentally: the thermal noise that drives the Brownian particle, is not white, as in Einstein's simple theory. It is slightly coloured, due to hydrodynamics and the fluctuation–dissipation theorem. This theoretical result from the 1970s was prompted by computer simulation results in apparent violation of Einstein's theory. We discuss how a direct experimental observation of this colour might be carried out by using optical tweezers to separate the thermal noise from the particle's dynamic response to it. Since the thermal noise is almost white, very good statistics is necessary to resolve its colour. That requires stable equipment and long recording times, possibly making this experiment one for the future only. We give results for experimental requirements and for stochastic errors as functions of experimental window and measurement time, and discuss some potential sources of systematic errors.