Fig. 4
From: Experimental evidence of symmetry breaking of transition-path times
Transition times of particles between two potential minima in microfluidic experiments and simulations. a Bistable potential created by a strong and weak optical trap under stochastically switching voltage ±E0. b Symmetry breaking in the cumulative distribution of transition times I→II (red) and I←II (blue). c Mean potential U and the first ten seconds of the position x(t) and the measured voltage E(t). Brief jumps in the telegraph process cannot be resolved and appear as averages between the two voltage levels. d Mean transition times 〈τ←, →〉 over the decorrelation rate α of the electrical field process. Error bars show the standard error of the mean. e Colour map representing the relative occupation of states in the position × force plane under the influence of an external, coloured force. f here denotes the total force f = fext − dU/dx. f Cumulative distribution of transition-path times in Brownian dynamics simulations
