3,590 research outputs found
Comment on: `Pipe Network Model for Scaling of Dynamic Interfaces in Porous Media'
We argue that a proposed exponent identity [Phys. Rev. Lett 85, 1238 (2000)]
for interface roughening in spontaneous imbibition is wrong. It rests on the
assumption that the fluctuations are controlled by a single time scale, but
liquid conservation imposes two distinct time scales.Comment: 1 page, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Dynamical transitions and sliding friction of the phase-field-crystal model with pinning
We study the nonlinear driven response and sliding friction behavior of the
phase-field-crystal (PFC) model with pinning including both thermal
fluctuations and inertial effects. The model provides a continuous description
of adsorbed layers on a substrate under the action of an external driving force
at finite temperatures, allowing for both elastic and plastic deformations. We
derive general stochastic dynamical equations for the particle and momentum
densities including both thermal fluctuations and inertial effects. The
resulting coupled equations for the PFC model are studied numerically. At
sufficiently low temperatures we find that the velocity response of an
initially pinned commensurate layer shows hysteresis with dynamical melting and
freezing transitions for increasing and decreasing applied forces at different
critical values. The main features of the nonlinear response in the PFC model
are similar to the results obtained previously with molecular dynamics
simulations of particle models for adsorbed layers.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Physcial Review
Moir\'e patterns and inversion boundaries in graphene/hexagonal boron nitride bilayers
In this paper a systematic examination of graphene/hexagonal boron nitride
(g/hBN) bilayers is presented, through a recently developed two-dimensional
phase field crystal model that incorporates out-of-plane deformations. The
system parameters are determined by closely matching the stacking energies and
heights of graphene/hBN bilayers to those obtained from existing
quantum-mechanical density functional theory calculations. Out-of-plane
deformations are shown to reduce the energies of inversion domain boundaries in
hBN, and the coupling between graphene and hBN layers leads to a bilayer defect
configuration consisting of an inversion boundary in hBN and a domain wall in
graphene. Simulations of twisted bilayers reveal the structure, energy, and
elastic properties of the corresponding Moir\'e patterns, and show a crossover,
as the misorientation angle between the layers increases, from a well-defined
hexagonal network of domain boundaries and junctions to smeared-out patterns.
The transition occurs when the thickness of domain walls approaches the size of
the Moir\'e patterns, and coincides with the peaks in the average von Mises and
volumetric stresses of the bilayer.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figure
Phase Diagram and Commensurate-Incommensurate Transitions in the Phase Field Crystal Model with an External Pinning Potential
We study the phase diagram and the commensurate-incommensurate transitions in
a phase field model of a two-dimensional crystal lattice in the presence of an
external pinning potential. The model allows for both elastic and plastic
deformations and provides a continuum description of lattice systems, such as
for adsorbed atomic layers or two-dimensional vortex lattices. Analytically, a
mode expansion analysis is used to determine the ground states and the
commensurate-incommensurate transitions in the model as a function of the
strength of the pinning potential and the lattice mismatch parameter. Numerical
minimization of the corresponding free energy shows good agreement with the
analytical predictions and provides details on the topological defects in the
transition region. We find that for small mismatch the transition is of
first-order, and it remains so for the largest values of mismatch studied here.
Our results are consistent with results of simulations for atomistic models of
adsorbed overlayers
Phase field crystal study of symmetric tilt grain boundaries of iron
We apply the phase field crystal model to study the structure and energy of symmetric tilt grain boundaries of bcc iron in 3D. The parameters for the model are obtained by using a recently developed eight-order fitting scheme [A. Jaatinen et al., (2009)]. The grain boundary free energies we obtain from the model are in good agreement with previous results from molecular dynamics simulations and experiments
Two Approaches to Dislocation Nucleation in the Supported Heteroepitaxial Equilibrium Islanding Phenomenon
We study the dislocation formation in 2D nanoscopic islands with two methods,
the Molecular Static method and the Phase Field Crystal method. It is found
that both methods indicate the same qualitative stages of the nucleation
process. The dislocations nucleate at the film-substrate contact point and the
energy decreases monotonously when the dislocations are farther away from the
island-wetting film contact points than the distance of the highest energy
barrier.Comment: 4 page
Ordering kinetics of stripe patterns
We study domain coarsening of two dimensional stripe patterns by numerically
solving the Swift-Hohenberg model of Rayleigh-Benard convection. Near the
bifurcation threshold, the evolution of disordered configurations is dominated
by grain boundary motion through a background of largely immobile curved
stripes. A numerical study of the distribution of local stripe curvatures, of
the structure factor of the order parameter, and a finite size scaling analysis
of the grain boundary perimeter, suggest that the linear scale of the structure
grows as a power law of time with a craracteristic exponent z=3. We interpret
theoretically the exponent z=3 from the law of grain boundary motion.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Glassy phases and driven response of the phase-field-crystal model with random pinning
We study the structural correlations and the nonlinear response to a driving
force of a two-dimensional phase-field-crystal model with random pinning. The
model provides an effective continuous description of lattice systems in the
presence of disordered external pinning centers, allowing for both elastic and
plastic deformations. We find that the phase-field crystal with disorder
assumes an amorphous glassy ground state, with only short-ranged positional and
orientational correlations even in the limit of weak disorder. Under increasing
driving force, the pinned amorphous-glass phase evolves into a moving
plastic-flow phase and then finally a moving smectic phase. The transverse
response of the moving smectic phase shows a vanishing transverse critical
force for increasing system sizes
Investigating possible ethnicity and sex bias in clinical examiners: an analysis of data from the MRCP(UK) PACES and nPACES examinations
Bias of clinical examiners against some types of candidate, based on characteristics such as sex or ethnicity, would represent a threat to the validity of an examination, since sex or ethnicity are 'construct-irrelevant' characteristics. In this paper we report a novel method for assessing sex and ethnic bias in over 2000 examiners who had taken part in the PACES and nPACES (new PACES) examinations of the MRCP(UK)
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