8,748 research outputs found
Dynamical density functional theory: phase separation in a cavity and the influence of symmetry
Consider a fluid composed of two species of particles, where the
interparticle pair potentials . On confining an
equal number of particles from each species in a cavity, one finds that the
average one body density profiles of each species are constrained to be exactly
the same due to the symmetry, when both external cavity potentials are the
same. For a binary fluid of Brownian particles interacting via repulsive
Gaussian pair potentials that exhibits phase separation, we study the dynamics
of the fluid one body density profiles on breaking the symmetry of the external
potentials, using the dynamical density functional theory of Marconi and
Tarazona [{\it J. Chem. Phys.}, {\bf 110}, 8032 (1999)]. On breaking the
symmetry we see that the fluid one body density profiles can then show the
phase separation that is present.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for the proceedings of the Liquid Matter
conference 2005, to be publication in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte
Dynamical density functional theory and its application to spinodal decomposition
We present an alternative derivation of the dynamical density functional
theory for the one body density profile of a classical fluid developed by
Marconi and Tarazona [J. Chem. Phys., 110, 8032 (1999)]. Our derivation
elucidates further some of the physical assumptions inherent in the theory and
shows that it is not restricted to fluids composed of particles interacting
solely via pair potentials; rather it applies to general, multi-body
interactions. The starting point for our derivation is the Smoluchowski
equation and the theory is therefore one for Brownian particles and as such is
applicable to colloidal fluids. In the second part of this paper we use the
dynamical density functional theory to derive a theory for spinodal
decomposition that is applicable at both early and intermediate times. For
early stages of spinodal decomposition our non-linear theory is equivalent to
the (generalised) linear Cahn-Hilliard theory, but for later times it
incorporates coupling between different Fourier components of the density
fluctuations (modes) and therefore goes beyond Cahn-Hilliard theory. We
describe the results of calculations for a model (Yukawa) fluid which show that
the coupling leads to the growth of a second maximum in the density
fluctuations, at a wavenumber larger than that of the main peak.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figure
Microscopic theory of solvent mediated long range forces: influence of wetting
We show that a general density functional approach for calculating the force
between two big particles immersed in a solvent of smaller ones can describe
systems that exhibit fluid-fluid phase separation: the theory captures effects
of strong adsorption (wetting) and of critical fluctuations in the solvent. We
illustrate the approach for the Gaussian core model, a simple model of a
polymer mixture in solution and find extremely attractive, long ranged solvent
mediated potentials between the big particles for state points lying close to
the binodal, on the side where the solvent is poor in the species which is
favoured by the big particles.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Europhysics Letter
Solvent mediated interactions close to fluid-fluid phase separation: microscopic treatment of bridging in a soft core fluid
Using density functional theory we calculate the density profiles of a binary
solvent adsorbed around a pair of big solute particles. All species interact
via repulsive Gaussian potentials. The solvent exhibits fluid-fluid phase
separation and for thermodynamic states near to coexistence the big particles
can be surrounded by a thick adsorbed `wetting' film of the coexisting solvent
phase. On reducing the separation between the two big particles we find there
can be a `bridging' transition as the wetting films join to form a fluid
bridge. The potential between the two big particles becomes long ranged and
strongly attractive in the bridged configuration. Within our mean-field
treatment the bridging transition results in a discontinuity in the solvent
mediated force. We demonstrate that accounting for the phenomenon of bridging
requires the presence of a non-zero bridge function in the correlations between
the solute particles when our model fluid is described within a full mixture
theory based upon the Ornstein-Zernike equations.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure
Constraints on Dimensional Warped Spaces
In order to investigate the phenomenological implications of allowing gauge
fields to propagate in warped spaces of more than five dimensions, we consider
a toy model of a space warped by the presence of a anisotropic bulk
cosmological constant. After solving the Einstein equation, three classes of
solutions are found, those in which the additional () dimensions are
growing, shrinking or remaining constant. It is found that gauge fields
propagating in these spaces have a significantly different Kaluza Klein (KK)
mass spectrum and couplings from that of the Randall and Sundrum model. This
leads to a greatly reduced lower bound on the KK scale, arising from
electroweak constraints, for spaces growing towards the IR brane.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures PASCOS2010 International Symposium proceedin
Soft core fluid in a quenched matrix of soft core particles: A mobile mixture in a model gel
We present a density-functional study of a binary phase-separating mixture of
soft core particles immersed in a random matrix of quenched soft core particles
of larger size. This is a model for a binary polymer mixture immersed in a
crosslinked rigid polymer network. Using the replica `trick' for
quenched-annealed mixtures we derive an explicit density functional theory that
treats the quenched species on the level of its one-body density distribution.
The relation to a set of effective external potentials acting on the annealed
components is discussed. We relate matrix-induced condensation in bulk to the
behaviour of the mixture around a single large particle. The interfacial
properties of the binary mixture at a surface of the quenched matrix display a
rich interplay between capillary condensation inside the bulk matrix and
wetting phenomena at the matrix surface.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for Phys. Rev.
Modelling the evaporation of nanoparticle suspensions from heterogeneous surfaces
We present a Monte Carlo (MC) grid-based model for the drying of drops of a
nanoparticle suspension upon a heterogeneous surface. The model consists of a
generalised lattice-gas in which the interaction parameters in the Hamiltonian
can be varied to model different properties of the materials involved. We show
how to choose correctly the interactions, to minimise the effects of the
underlying grid so that hemispherical droplets form. We also include the
effects of surface roughness to examine the effects of contact-line pinning on
the dynamics. When there is a `lid' above the system, which prevents
evaporation, equilibrium drops form on the surface, which we use to determine
the contact angle and how it varies as the parameters of the model are changed.
This enables us to relate the interaction parameters to the materials used in
applications. The model has also been applied to drying on heterogeneous
surfaces, in particular to the case where the suspension is deposited on a
surface consisting of a pair of hydrophilic conducting metal surfaces that are
either side of a band of hydrophobic insulating polymer. This situation occurs
when using inkjet printing to manufacture electrical connections between the
metallic parts of the surface. The process is not always without problems,
since the liquid can dewet from the hydrophobic part of the surface, breaking
the bridge before the drying process is complete. The MC model reproduces the
observed dewetting, allowing the parameters to be varied so that the conditions
for the best connection can be established. We show that if the hydrophobic
portion of the surface is located at a step below the height of the
neighbouring metal, the chance of dewetting of the liquid during the drying
process is significantly reduced.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure
Mean-field dynamical density functional theory
We examine the out-of-equilibrium dynamical evolution of density profiles of
ultrasoft particles under time-varying external confining potentials in three
spatial dimensions. The theoretical formalism employed is the dynamical density
functional theory (DDFT) of Marini Bettolo Marconi and Tarazona [J. Chem. Phys.
{\bf 110}, 8032 (1999)], supplied by an equilibrium excess free energy
functional that is essentially exact. We complement our theoretical analysis by
carrying out extensive Brownian Dynamics simulations. We find excellent
agreement between theory and simulations for the whole time evolution of
density profiles, demonstrating thereby the validity of the DDFT when an
accurate equilibrium free energy functional is employed.Comment: 8 pagers, 4 figure
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