ABSTRACT
The dynamic properties of colloidal suspensions constitute an important experimental and theoretical aspect of the study of colloidal systems [1-3]. In equilibrium, and in the absence of external elds, the most relevant dynamic information of such systems is contained in the intermediate scattering function F(k, t) [2]. This function is the spatial Fourier transform (FT) of the van Hove function G(r, t), which measures the spatial and temporal correlations of the thermal uctuations dn(r, t) n(r, t) – n of the local concentration n(r, t) of colloidal particles at position r and time t around its equilibrium bulk average n, that is, nG(|r - r¢|; t) ·dn(r, t)dn(r¢, 0)Ò, where the angular brackets indicate average over the equilibrium ensemble [2]. A closely related property is the socalled self intermediate scattering function F (S)(k, t). This is de ned as F (S)(k, t) ·eik · DR(t)Ò, where DR(t) is the displacement at time t of any of the particles of the Brownian uid.
