748 research outputs found
Dynamics of a faceted nematic-smectic B front in thin-sample directional solidification
We present an experimental study of the directional-solidification patterns
of a nematic - smectic B front. The chosen system is C_4H_9-(C_6H_{10})_2CN (in
short, CCH4) in 12 \mu m-thick samples, and in the planar configuration
(director parallel to the plane of the sample). The nematic - smectic B
interface presents a facet in one direction -- the direction parallel to the
smectic layers -- and is otherwise rough, and devoid of forbidden directions.
We measure the Mullins-Sekerka instability threshold and establish the
morphology diagram of the system as a function of the solidification rate V and
the angle theta_{0} between the facet and the isotherms. We focus on the
phenomena occurring immediately above the instability threshold when theta_{0}
is neither very small nor close to 90^{o}. Under these conditions we observe
drifting shallow cells and a new type of solitary wave, called "faceton", which
consists essentially of an isolated macroscopic facet traveling laterally at
such a velocity that its growth rate with respect to the liquid is small.
Facetons may propagate either in a stationary, or an oscillatory way. The
detailed study of their dynamics casts light on the microscopic growth
mechanisms of the facets in this system.Comment: 12 pages, 19 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Theory and Phenomenology of Heavy Flavor at RHIC
We review the problem of heavy-quark diffusion in the Quark-Gluon Plasma and
its ramifications for heavy-quark spectra in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC. In
particular, we attempt to reconcile underlying mechanisms of several seemingly
different approaches that have been put forward to explain the large
suppression and elliptic flow of non-photonic electron spectra. We also
emphasize the importance of a quantitative description of the bulk medium
evolution to extract reliable values for the heavy-quark diffusion coefficient.Comment: 8 pages latex, including 10 eps figures; plenary talk at SQM08,
Beijing (China), Oct. 06-10, 200
Eutectic colony formation: A phase field study
Eutectic two-phase cells, also known as eutectic colonies, are commonly
observed during the solidification of ternary alloys when the composition is
close to a binary eutectic valley. In analogy with the solidification cells
formed in dilute binary alloys, colony formation is triggered by a
morphological instability of a macroscopically planar eutectic solidification
front due to the rejection by both solid phases of a ternary impurity that
diffuses in the liquid. Here we develop a phase-field model of a binary
eutectic with a dilute ternary impurity and we investigate by dynamical
simulations both the initial linear regime of this instability, and the
subsequent highly nonlinear evolution of the interface that leads to fully
developed two-phase cells with a spacing much larger than the lamellar spacing.
We find a good overall agreement with our recent linear stability analysis [M.
Plapp and A. Karma, Phys. Rev. E 60, 6865 (1999)], which predicts a
destabilization of the front by long-wavelength modes that may be stationary or
oscillatory. A fine comparison, however, reveals that the assumption commonly
attributed to Cahn that lamella grow perpendicular to the envelope of the
solidification front is weakly violated in the phase-field simulations. We show
that, even though weak, this violation has an important quantitative effect on
the stability properties of the eutectic front. We also investigate the
dynamics of fully developed colonies and find that the large-scale envelope of
the composite eutectic front does not converge to a steady state, but exhibits
cell elimination and tip-splitting events up to the largest times simulated.Comment: 18 pages, 18 EPS figures, RevTeX twocolumn, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Instability driven fragmentation of nanoscale fractal islands
Formation and evolution of fragmentation instabilities in fractal islands,
obtained by deposition of silver clusters on graphite, are studied. The
fragmentation dynamics and subsequent relaxation to the equilibrium shapes are
controlled by the deposition conditions and cluster composition. Sharing common
features with other materials' breakup phenomena, the fragmentation instability
is governed by the length-to-width ratio of the fractal arms.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Physical Review Letters in pres
Dressed spectral densities for heavy quark diffusion in holographic plasmas
We analyze the large frequency behavior of the spectral densities that govern
the generalized Langevin diffusion process for a heavy quark in the context of
the gauge/gravity duality. The bare Langevin correlators obtained from the
trailing string solution have a singular short-distance behavior. We argue that
the proper dressed spectral functions are obtained by subtracting the
zero-temperature correlators. The dressed spectral functions have a
sufficiently fast fall-off at large frequency so that the Langevin process is
well defined and the dispersion relations are satisfied. We identify the cases
in which the subtraction does not modify the associated low-frequency transport
coefficients. These include conformal theories and the non-conformal,
non-confining models. We provide several analytic and numerical examples in
conformal and non-conformal holographic backgrounds.Comment: 51 pages, 2 figure
ClG 0217+70: A massive merging galaxy cluster with a large radio halo and relics
We present an analysis of archival Chandra data of the merging galaxy cluster
ClG 0217+70. The Fe XXV He X-ray emission line is clearly visible in
the 25 ks observation, allowing a precise determination of the redshift of the
cluster as . We measure keV and estimate
based on existing scaling
relations. Correcting both the radio and X-ray luminosities with the revised
redshift reported here, which is much larger than previously inferred based on
sparse optical data, this object is no longer an X-ray underluminous outlier in
the scaling relation. The new redshift also
means that, in terms of physical scale, ClG 0217+70 hosts one of the largest
radio halos and one of the largest radio relics known to date. Most of the
relic candidates lie in projection beyond . The X-ray morphological
parameters suggest that the intracluster medium is still dynamically disturbed.
Two X-ray surface brightness discontinuities are confirmed in the northern and
southern parts of the cluster, with density jumps of and
, respectively. We also find a kpc X-ray faint
channel in the western part of the cluster, which may correspond to compressed
heated gas or increased non-thermal pressure due to turbulence or magnetic
fields.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in A&A Letter
X-ray spectra of the Fe-L complex II: atomic data constraints from EBIT experiment and X-ray grating observations of Capella
The Hitomi results for the Perseus cluster have shown that accurate atomic models are essential to the success of X-ray spectroscopic missions, and just as important as knowledge on instrumental calibration and astrophysical modeling. Preparing the models requires a multifaceted approach, including theoretical calculations, laboratory measurements, and calibration using real observations. In a previous paper, we presented a calculation of the electron impact cross sections on the transitions forming the Fe-L complex. In the present work, we systematically test the calculation against cross sections of ions measured in an electron beam ion trap experiment. A two-dimensional analysis in the electron beam energies and X-ray photon energies is utilized to disentangle radiative channels following dielectronic recombination, direct electron-impact excitation, and resonant excitation processes in the experimental data. The data calibrated through laboratory measurements are further fed into global modeling of the Chandra grating spectrum of Capella. We investigate and compare the fit quality, as well as sensitivity of the derived physical parameters to the underlying atomic data and the astrophysical plasma modeling. We further list the potential areas of disagreement between the observation and the present calculations, which in turn calls for renewed efforts in theoretical calculations and targeted laboratory measurements
Boojums and the Shapes of Domains in Monolayer Films
Domains in Langmuir monolayers support a texture that is the two-dimensional
version of the feature known as a boojum. Such a texture has a quantifiable
effect on the shape of the domain with which it is associated. The most
noticeable consequence is a cusp-like feature on the domain boundary. We report
the results of an experimental and theoretical investigation of the shape of a
domain in a Langmuir monolayer. A further aspect of the investigation is the
study of the shape of a ``bubble'' of gas-like phase in such a monolayer. This
structure supports a texture having the form of an inverse boojum. The
distortion of a bubble resulting from this texture is also studied. The
correspondence between theory and experiment, while not perfect, indicates that
a qualitative understanding of the relationship between textures and domain
shapes has been achieved.Comment: replaced with published version, 10 pages, 13 figures include
- …