Time-series methods in analysis of the optical tweezers recordings

Sławomir Drobczynski and Jakub Ślęzak

In this paper we treat optical tweezers as discrete-time linear filters and analyze the recorded trajectories of the trapped beads using time-series methods. Using these techniques we obtain a simple analytical formula for the aliased power-spectrum density. Moreover, we separate influences of the noise and blur induced by the video camera from the physical content of the measurements, providing simple tools to detect and account for these distortions. Finally, checking how our tools work on the real data, we identify what parameters of video camera calibration the blur is dominating and what the additive noise is dominating. We also detect a range where these two distortions cancel each other so that the data can be mistakenly classified as undisturbed.

DOI