Crossover from Intermittent to Continuum Dynamics for Locally Driven Colloids

We simulate a colloid with charge q_d driven through a disordered assembly of interacting colloids with charge q and show that, for q_d \approx q, the velocity-force relation is nonlinear and the velocity fluctuations of the driven particle are highly intermittent with a 1/f characteristic. When q_d >> q, the average velocity ddrops, the velocity force relation becomes linear, and the velocity fluctuations are Gaussian. We discuss the results in terms of a crossover from strongly intermittent heterogeneous dynamics to continuum dynamics. We also make several predictions for the transient response in the different regimes.