Electrophoretic transport through channels of periodically varying cross section

We analyze the electrophoretic transport of a point-sized Brownian particle in a narrow channel of periodically varying cross section. The mean long-time transport coefficients (effective velocity and dispersivity) are calculated using generalized Taylor-Aris dispersion (macrotransport) theory for spatially periodic media. Analytical results for slowly varying geometries are obtained using a long-wavelength perturbation scheme for both O(1) and large Peclet numbers. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.