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Random displacement of a tagged constituent, even in a material of uniform composition. The displayed long-time relation defines ordinary isotropic diffusion in $d$ dimensions.

A semiconductor has an electronic band gap and a conductivity strongly affected by temperature, impurities and carrier injection. Optical absorption can create mobile electrons and holes, enabling a photodiode.

The useful feature of a semiconductor is that its charge carrier population can be controlled. Semiconductor doping changes the supply of mobile electrons or electron holes; carrier injection changes their population away from thermal equilibrium. A transistor turns that control into an electronic amplifier: a small input signal controls a larger flow of supplied energy.

For a uniform semiconductor in a weak electric field, a simple drift model writes its electrical conductivity asHere $q>0$ is the elementary charge, $n,p$ are the number densities of mobile electrons and electron holes, and ${\mu }_n,{\mu }_p$ their positive charge carrier mobilities. The two contributions add because opposite electric charges drift in opposite directions and therefore carry electric current in the same direction. This model assumes fixed temperature and mobilities and omits diffusion from density gradients.

An original dimensionless example isolates the effect of carrier injection. Suppose initially $p\ll n=n_0$ and ${\mu }_n=2{\mu }_p$. Adding equal excess populations $\Delta n=\Delta p=0.1n_0$ gives $\Delta \sigma /{\sigma }_0=0.15$, even though the added electron holes remain a minority carrier population. A semiconductor can respond strongly to a small injected population without changing its underlying band gap.

single-particle tracking estimates successive positions of individual labeled objects. Displacements can constrain diffusion, confinement or directed movement, provided localization error, missed detections and label effects are accounted for.

Sparse photoactivation allows successive positions of individual labelled molecules to be linked into trajectories; activation of fresh subsets yields many tracks in living cells. This extends photoactivated localization microscopy from accumulated positions to mobility. For free two-dimensional diffusion with independent per-coordinate fluorescence localization precision $\sigma$, instantaneous frames give mean squared displacement $4D\Delta t+4{\sigma }^2$. Motion blur, tracking errors, confinement and photobleaching must be accounted for before assigning mobility classes.^[ref]

For an absorbing spherical target of radius $a$ in an infinite uniform reservoir, steady diffusion gives $c(r)=c_{\infty }(1-a/r)$. Integrating the inward flux yields $k=4\pi D_{\mathrm{rel}}a$, where $D_{\mathrm{rel}}=D_A+D_B$ if both partners diffuse. Here $k$ multiplies number densities; its units are volume per time. Molecular orientation, finite-domain transients and imperfect capture require corrections.

For two dilute spherical species with absorbing contact and negligible interaction barriers, relative diffusion has coefficient $D=D_1+D_2$ and contact radius $R=a_1+a_2$. The steady concentration outside one target is $c(r)=c_{\infty }(1-R/r)$, solving the radial Laplace equation with zero contact concentration. Its inward diffusive flux is $4\pi DR{c}_{\infty }$, proving the displayed bimolecular rate coefficient. For identical particles, converting this encounter coefficient into a rate of loss of cluster number additionally needs the factor that prevents counting the same pair twice.

For $n_t=D\Delta n+\gamma n$ in a sphere of radius $a$, with zero surface density and regularity at the origin, the lowest spherically symmetric normal mode is $n(r,t)=n_c\sin (\pi r/a)/(\pi r/a)\exp [(\gamma -{\pi }^{2}D/a^2)t]$. Substitution of $R=f/r$ in the radial Laplacian gives $f^{\prime \prime }+k^{2}f=0$, and regularity removes the cosine solution. The Dirichlet boundary condition gives $k=m\pi /a$; a radial mode with no interior zeros requires $m=1$. Thus diffusion leakage suppresses growth below the displayed threshold, while the mode is stationary at equality. The expression at $r=0$ uses its continuous limit. In a linear neutron multiplication model this is the competition between bulk production and surface loss.

A stagnant mushy-layer model has no bulk advection, equal phase mass densities, pure solid, and local equilibrium on the liquidus. With liquid fraction $\varphi$, specific enthalpy $E=c_{p}T+L\varphi$ and bulk solute concentration $B=\varphi C$, neglecting solute diffusion inside the mushy layer gives $T_t+(L/c_p){\varphi }_t=\kappa T_{zz}$ and $(\varphi C{)}_t=0$. The latter fixes composition at each stationary material level; it does not automatically set every level to the initial liquid concentration when solute can diffuse ahead of the growing mush.

Use the rotating frame and positive gyromagnetic ratio convention of free induction decay. Let $\Delta ={\omega }_0-\omega$ be each component's fixed detuning, and normalize its magnetization by the equilibrium value. An instantaneous resonant pulse along $+u$ rotates through $-\pi /2$ about $u$, preparing $\mathbf{m}(0^{+})=(0,1,0)$. A second pulse along $+v$ rotates through $-\pi$ about $v$. These ideal pulses require a drive much stronger than the relevant detunings and negligible relaxation during either pulse. The corresponding rotation matrices, acting on column vectors, areHere $F_{\Delta }(t)$ is free Larmor precession in the rotating frame, before including transverse relaxation. Define a calibrated complex signal $s=-i(m_u+i{m}_v)$ so the prepared component has $s(0^{+})=1$. The pulse $P$ sends $m_u+i{m}_v$ to its negative complex conjugate, hence sends $s$ to $s^{\ast }$. Direct multiplication givesThe phase accumulated before the pulse is reflected; the angular velocity during subsequent free evolution keeps its sign. At $2\tau$ every fixed detuning has zero residual phase. Equivalently, $P{F}_{\Delta }(t)P=F_{\Delta }(-t)$, so $F_{\Delta }(\tau )P{F}_{\Delta }(\tau )=P$. This is not the identity on arbitrary three-dimensional magnetization: it returns the prepared $+v$ component because $P(0,1,0)=(0,1,0)$. The two transverse pulse axes specified here also fix the receiver sign of the echo.

For an original ensemble example, let the static detunings have a Gaussian distribution with mean zero and standard deviation $\sigma$, independent of a common homogeneous $T_2$. Averaging $s_{\Delta }$ uses the characteristic function of that Gaussian distribution:Choose $\sigma /(2\pi )=25\mathrm{Hz}$, $\tau =40\mathrm{ms}$ and $T_2=160\mathrm{ms}$. Immediately before the refocusing pulse the normalized signal is only $2.08\times 10^{-9}$, yet $S(80\mathrm{ms})=e^{-1/2}=0.60653$. A one-pulse free induction decay at 80 ms would instead be about $3.11\times 10^{-35}$. These chosen numbers describe a calculation, not a measured trace. Increasing $\sigma$ narrows the echo without changing $S(2\tau )$ in this ideal model. Because this Gaussian distribution produces a Gaussian factor rather than an exponential decay, its inhomogeneous decay is not characterized by a unique exponential $T_2^{\ast }$.

The exact phase-refocusing time is $2\tau$. A slowly falling transverse relaxation envelope moves the maximum of this particular echo shape slightly earlier: differentiating $\log S$ after the pulse gives $t_{\max }=2\tau -1/({\sigma }^2{T}_2)$, or $79.747\mathrm{ms}$ here. Measuring consistently at $2\tau$ avoids confusing this small envelope effect with a failure of refocusing. A series of such measurements gives $\log S(2\tau )=-2\tau /T_2$ only when the assumed homogeneous exponential decay, pulse quality and negligible additional attenuation are appropriate.

Chapter 3 of Kinetic Theory by David Tong. Sections 3.1–3.2, printed pages 53–64: Langevin dynamics, Einstein relation (3.12), Gaussian diffusion and the Fokker-Planck equation. Whole-work author credit applies. No separately contributed chapter author is established.

For dilute isolated spheres in a Newtonian solvent, $D\eta a/T=k_B/(6\pi )$. An experimental check independently measures temperature, viscosity and particle size, then obtains diffusion from a displacement variance or a scattering decay. Drift, walls, concentration effects, aggregation and a hydrodynamic radius different from a structural radius can defeat an unqualified comparison.

A streakline at observation time $T$ is the set of present positions of all fluid elements that passed through one fixed release point $\mathbf{a}$ during a specified history of injection. For continuous release over ${\tau }_0\le \tau \le T$, solve a different initial value problem for each release time $\tau$:Thus a pathline varies $t$ for one particle; a streakline varies $\tau$ while holding $T$ fixed. Interrupted release gives only the corresponding subsets of the streakline. A moving nozzle requires a time-dependent release position instead, so the standard fixed-point definition should not silently be applied to it. Continuous release makes streaklines easy to observe and useful for showing where material from one source has reached. ^[ref]

In the analytical velocity field $(U,at)$ of pathline, a particle released at the origin at time $\tau$ followsObserve all particles together at time $T$, after continuous release from $\tau =0$:For $U=1\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, $a=1\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-2}$ and $T=2\mathrm{s}$, the streakline is the downward-curving parabola $y=2x-x^2/2$ in metre coordinates. Releases at $\tau =0,1,2\mathrm{s}$ occupy $(2,2)$, $(1,1.5)$ and $(0,0)\mathrm{m}$, respectively. At $x=1\mathrm{m}$, the streakline lies above the pathline $y=x^2/2$ and below the origin's streamline $y=2x$. All particles nevertheless have the same present velocity $(1,2)\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. The streakline slope $dy/dx=a\tau /U$ generally differs from the present velocity slope $aT/U$; they agree at the nozzle. The oldest particle is the downstream endpoint, which explains why the pathline and streakline meet there without being the same curve.

Each panel fixes one observation time. Coloured dots are the present positions of particles with the indicated release times; dashed pathlines show those particles' earlier histories. The black streakline connects present positions of the continuously released family, including release times between the sampled dots. After $T=1\mathrm{s}$, particles already present keep moving and new ones enter at the origin, so the later streakline is not a frozen record of the earlier one. Injection beginning only at $\tau =1\mathrm{s}$ would show just $0\le x\le 1\mathrm{m}$ of the $T=2\mathrm{s}$ curve. Both panels are diffusion-free analytical models, not experimental photographs.

Kline's contracting-channel demonstration switches from marking an element to continuous bubble production at a marking wire: the resulting trace is a streakline. The apparatus therefore changes the curve being displayed by changing the marking history, even with the same channel. A wire produces a family of traces; conceptually each fixed emitting location supplies its own streakline. Individual bubbles are markers rather than perfect fluid elements: Jean Hertzberg's teaching notes describe hydrogen production by electrolysis at a thin cathode wire and warn that larger bubbles have more buoyancy. ^{[ref] [ref]}

A dye version uses a small fixed injection port upstream in a transparent water channel, a dilute premix of dye with the channel water, illumination and a fixed optical camera. Start continuous injection at a recorded time ${\tau }_0$ and take a short exposure at $T$: the visible filament approximates a streakline, not the accumulated pathline of one particle. Repeat with the same port and imaging geometry after changing the flow with time; compare the filament against local directions estimated from short displacements of sparse markers at $T$. Agreement in a steady flow and possible disagreement when the flow changes are the predictions being tested; no measured curves are claimed here. The protocol follows Hertzberg's advice to use small ports, little injected volume and a dilute premix with matched density and viscosity. Check for nozzle disturbance by reducing injection rate, for buoyancy by watching the premix in still water, and for diffusion by comparing filament widths at different ages. Keep exposure short enough to suppress motion blur. Dye concentration approximates a passive scalar only when it has negligible feedback on the velocity field; finite port width, diffusion and out-of-plane motion limit how literally a visible filament can be read as a geometrical streakline. ^[ref]

When attachment is much slower than exterior diffusion, the surface concentration stays close to the reservoir value. An attachment coefficient $k_s$ with units of velocity gives nearly constant radial growth in the dilute-feed approximation. For a sphere the ratio $k_{s}a/D$ distinguishes attachment control from transport control. A finite attachment rate leads to a Robin boundary condition rather than a fixed equilibrium surface concentration.

For diffusion starting at the centre of $(-L,L)$ with absorbing endpoints, only even-parity spatial eigenfunctions contribute. Integrating their cosine expansion gives the displayed series. The leading late-time term has prefactor $4/\pi$ and decay rate ${\pi }^{2}D/(4L^2)$; its first relative correction is $-\frac{1}{3}{e}^{-2{\pi }^{2}Dt/L^2}$.

For interstitial velocity $u=6U\xi (1-\xi )$, $\xi =z/h$, reflecting transverse walls and molecular diffusion $D$, solve $D{\chi }^{\prime \prime }=u-U$ with zero mean and zero normal derivative. One solution is $\chi =(U{h}^2/D)({\xi }^3-{\xi }^4/2-{\xi }^2/2+1/60)$. Averaging the advection-diffusion equation gives enhancement $-\overline{(u-U)\chi }=D\overline{({\chi }^{\prime }{)}^2}=U^2{h}^2/(210D)$. The approximation requires transverse equilibration and slowly varying longitudinal concentration.

For diffusion constant $D>0$, Gaussian increments have variance $2D\Delta t$. Their convolution gives a path weight proportional to $\exp [-\sum (\Delta x{)}^2/(4D\Delta t)]$ with measure factor $(4\pi D\Delta t{)}^{-M/2}$ for $M$ slices. The continuum kinetic action is notation for this limiting measure; typical Brownian paths have no ordinary derivative.

diffusion inferred by tracking labelled particles in an equilibrium material. Local jump correlations and carrier concentration must be accounted for when relating it to electrical conductivity.

Diffusion of particle position, as distinguished from rotational diffusion of its orientation. Its diffusion coefficient has units of length squared per time.

A tunnel diode is a p-n junction with sufficiently heavy semiconductor doping on both sides to make a thin depletion region and permit substantial interband tunnelling. The neutral regions are degenerate semiconductors. Its distinctive forward current-voltage characteristic contains a peak followed by a valley: over part of the curve, increasing the applied electric potential difference decreases the electric current. The Esaki tunnel-diode experiment made this behavior experimentally concrete.

The useful quantity is the local slope, not the ratio of total voltage to total electric current. With conventional electric current $I$ entering the positive-voltage terminal, defineNegative differential resistance means $g_d<0$, hence $r_d<0$ where defined. A forward operating point can still have $V>0$, $I>0$ and absorbed power $VI>0$. A small voltage increase then gives a negative current increment; this does not make the total electric current negative or turn the device into an unlimited source of energy. The external supply sets the operating point and supplies the energy available for an electronic amplifier.

An original idealized construction explains the shape. Put the n-type semiconductor on the left and the p-type semiconductor on the right. Take $q>0$ as the elementary charge and $V=V_p-V_n$. Increasing forward bias lowers the right-hand electron energy levels relative to the left. Denote the two reservoir electrochemical potentials by ${\mu }_n,{\mu }_p$, so that ${\mu }_n-{\mu }_p=qV$. At zero temperature, occupied left-hand conduction band states extend up to ${\mu }_n$; empty right-hand valence band states start at ${\mu }_p$. For transfer conserving electron energy, the available interval isIt is nonempty only when its upper endpoint exceeds its lower endpoint. Both an occupied initial quantum state and an empty final quantum state must exist at the same energy. The Pauli exclusion principle prevents transfer into an already occupied final quantum state.

For the original diagram, choose arbitrary energy units with $E_{c,n}=-0.5$, ${\mu }_n=0$, ${\mu }_p=-u$ and $E_{v,p}=0.5-u$, where $u$ is $qV$ in those units. The available interval has widthThus $L(0.25)=0.25$, $L(0.50)=0.50$, $L(0.70)=0.30$, and $L(1.15)=0$. Initially forward bias opens a transfer window; further forward bias closes it by moving the right-hand valence band edge below the left-hand conduction band edge. This is a state-counting illustration, not a formula for a measured electric current.

For reverse bias, the transfer direction changes: occupied right-hand valence band states can feed empty left-hand conduction band states. In the same construction, $u=-0.70$ opens the interval $0<E<0.70$ for this reverse transfer. A narrow depletion region allows a large reverse quantum tunnelling electric current at small electric potential difference, whereas the ordinary Shockley diode equation predicts only a small reverse saturation electric current before diode reverse breakdown. At zero biasing, equal reservoir occupations give zero net electric current; quantum tunnelling does not require a net equilibrium flow.

A finite-temperature refinement replaces sharp occupation cutoffs with the Fermi-Dirac distribution. An illustrative weak-transfer expression isHere $\mathcal{W}\ge 0$ describes allowed initial/final quantum states and their coupling, and $f_n,f_p$ are Fermi-Dirac distributions with the respective electrochemical potentials. The occupation difference follows by subtracting the reverse transfer factor from the forward one: $f_n(1-f_p)-f_p(1-f_n)=f_n-f_p$. An overlap interval alone does not determine $\mathcal{W}$: transmission probability, density of states, crystal momentum selection and phonons can matter. A complete germanium calculation is more demanding than multiplying two constant density of states factors. At larger forward bias, ordinary carrier injection and diffusion supply a rising current branch even after direct band overlap is lost.

A homogeneous charged channel can add a constant electro-osmotic drift to the ideal electrophoretic velocity at fixed field. It changes the coefficient of a linear length-versus-entry-time law without generating a new length exponent. Charge-dependent adsorption, heterogeneous trapping or cancellation of drift followed by diffusion lies outside that simple claim; wall charge cannot be excluded as an indirect cause in every real experiment.