51 research outputs found
A class of exactly solvable free-boundary inhomogeneous porous medium flows
We describe a class of inhomogeneous two-dimensional porous medium flows, driven by a finite number of multipole sources; the free boundary dynamics can be parametrized by polynomial conformal maps
Microfluidic multipoles: theory and applications
Microfluidic multipoles (MFMs) have been realized experimentally and hold
promise for "open-space" biological and chemical surface processing. Whereas
convective flow can readily be predicted using hydraulic-electrical analogies,
the design of advanced MFMs is constrained by the lack of simple, accurate
models to predict mass transport within them. In this work, we introduce the
first exact solutions to mass transport in multipolar microfluidics based on
the iterative conformal mapping of 2D advection-diffusion around a simple edge
into dipoles and multipolar geometries, revealing a rich landscape of transport
modes. The models were validated experimentally with a library of 3D printed
MFM devices and found in excellent agreement. Following a theory-guided design
approach, we further ideated and fabricated two new classes of spatiotemporally
reconfigurable MFM devices that are used for processing surfaces with
time-varying reagent streams, and to realize a multistep automated immunoassay.
Overall, the results set the foundations for exploring, developing, and
applying open-space MFMs.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
On Integrability and Exact Solvability in Deterministic and Stochastic Laplacian Growth
We review applications of theory of classical and quantum integrable systems
to the free-boundary problems of fluid mechanics as well as to corresponding
problems of statistical mechanics. We also review important exact results
obtained in the theory of multi-fractal spectra of the stochastic models
related to the Laplacian growth: Schramm-Loewner and Levy-Loewner evolutions
Conformal mapping methods for interfacial dynamics
The article provides a pedagogical review aimed at graduate students in
materials science, physics, and applied mathematics, focusing on recent
developments in the subject. Following a brief summary of concepts from complex
analysis, the article begins with an overview of continuous conformal-map
dynamics. This includes problems of interfacial motion driven by harmonic
fields (such as viscous fingering and void electromigration), bi-harmonic
fields (such as viscous sintering and elastic pore evolution), and
non-harmonic, conformally invariant fields (such as growth by
advection-diffusion and electro-deposition). The second part of the article is
devoted to iterated conformal maps for analogous problems in stochastic
interfacial dynamics (such as diffusion-limited aggregation, dielectric
breakdown, brittle fracture, and advection-diffusion-limited aggregation). The
third part notes that all of these models can be extended to curved surfaces by
an auxilliary conformal mapping from the complex plane, such as stereographic
projection to a sphere. The article concludes with an outlook for further
research.Comment: 37 pages, 12 (mostly color) figure
Laplacian Growth, Elliptic Growth, and Singularities of the Schwarz Potential
The Schwarz function has played an elegant role in understanding and in
generating new examples of exact solutions to the Laplacian growth (or "Hele-
Shaw") problem in the plane. The guiding principle in this connection is the
fact that "non-physical" singularities in the "oil domain" of the Schwarz
function are stationary, and the "physical" singularities obey simple dynamics.
We give an elementary proof that the same holds in any number of dimensions for
the Schwarz potential, introduced by D. Khavinson and H. S. Shapiro [17]
(1989). A generalization is also given for the so-called "elliptic growth"
problem by defining a generalized Schwarz potential. New exact solutions are
constructed, and we solve inverse problems of describing the driving
singularities of a given flow. We demonstrate, by example, how \mathbb{C}^n -
techniques can be used to locate the singularity set of the Schwarz potential.
One of our methods is to prolong available local extension theorems by
constructing "globalizing families". We make three conjectures in potential
theory relating to our investigation
An L1 Penalty Method for General Obstacle Problems
We construct an efficient numerical scheme for solving obstacle problems in
divergence form. The numerical method is based on a reformulation of the
obstacle in terms of an L1-like penalty on the variational problem. The
reformulation is an exact regularizer in the sense that for large (but finite)
penalty parameter, we recover the exact solution. Our formulation is applied to
classical elliptic obstacle problems as well as some related free boundary
problems, for example the two-phase membrane problem and the Hele-Shaw model.
One advantage of the proposed method is that the free boundary inherent in the
obstacle problem arises naturally in our energy minimization without any need
for problem specific or complicated discretization. In addition, our scheme
also works for nonlinear variational inequalities arising from convex
minimization problems.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figure
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