474 research outputs found
The Effects of Shear and Rotation Anisotropy Upon the Process of Gravitational Instability
In this paper, we study the role of shear fields on the evolution of density
perturbations embedded in a Friedmann flat background universe, by studying the
evolution of a homogeneous ellipsoid model. In this context, we show that while
the effect of the shear is that of increasing the growth rate of the density
contrast of a mass element, the angular momentum acquired by the ellipsoid has
the right magnitude to counterbalance the shear. Finally, our result show that
initial asphericities and tidal interaction induce a slowing down of the
collapse after the system has broken away from the general expansion, in
perfect agreement with the previrialization conjecture (Peebles & Groth 1976;
Davis & Peebles 1977)
Mesophases in Nearly 2D Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids
Computer simulations of (i) a [C12mim][Tf2N] film of nanometric thickness
squeezed at kbar pressure by a piecewise parabolic confining potential reveal a
mesoscopic in-plane density and composition modulation reminiscent of
mesophases seen in 3D samples of the same room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL).
Near 2D confinement, enforced by a high normal load, relatively long aliphatic
chains are strictly required for the mesophase formation, as confirmed by
computations for two related systems made of (ii) the same [C12mim][Tf2N]
adsorbed at a neutral solid surface and (iii) a shorter-chain RTIL
([C4mim][Tf2N]) trapped in the potential well of part i. No in-plane modulation
is seen for ii and iii. In case ii, the optimal arrangement of charge and
neutral tails is achieved by layering parallel to the surface, while, in case
iii, weaker dispersion and packing interactions are unable to bring aliphatic
tails together into mesoscopic islands, against overwhelming entropy and
Coulomb forces. The onset of in-plane mesophases could greatly affect the
properties of long-chain RTILs used as lubricants.Comment: 24 pages 10 figure
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