Dynamics of chiral molecules in gaseous environments: validity of the Magnus effect in microscale systems

Abstract

Dynamics and separation of chiral C60 were numerically investigated in a gaseous environment with a linear velocity. We have found that the probability of location of center-of-mass coordinates of C60 in the Y direction was affected by chirality of C60, angular velocity of C60, temperature of gaseous environment, pressure of gaseous environment and particle species. When angular velocity was zero, the transport trajectory was close to the standard normal distribution in the Y direction. For the clockwise C60, it had a higher probability towards the positive Y-axis. However, the counterclockwise rotating C60 tended towards the negative Y-axis. In addition, we also propose a mechanical mechanism in microscale systems about chiral separation. Our statistical results present a phenomenon that is different from the Magnus effect.