7 research outputs found
Small-angle scattering from fat fractals
A number of experimental small-angle scattering (SAS) data are characterized
by a succession of power-law decays with arbitrarily decreasing values of
scattering exponents. To describe such data, here we develop a new theoretical
model based on 3D fat fractals (sets with fractal structure, but nonzero
volume) and show how one can extract structural information about the
underlying fractal structure. We calculate analytically the monodisperse and
polydisperse SAS intensity (fractal form factor and structure factor) of a
newly introduced model of fat fractals and study its properties in momentum
space. The system is a 3D deterministic mass fractal built on an extension of
the well-known Cantor fractal. The model allows us to explain a succession of
power-law decays and respectively, of generalized power-law decays
(superposition of maxima and minima on a power-law decay) with arbitrarily
decreasing scattering exponents in the range from zero to three. We show that
within the model, the present analysis allows us to obtain the edges of all the
fractal regions in the momentum space, the number of fractal iteration and the
fractal dimensions and scaling factors at each structural level in the fractal.
We applied our model to calculate an analytical expression for the radius of
gyration of the fractal. The obtained quantities characterizing the fat fractal
are correlated to variation of scaling factor with the iteration number.Comment: The final publication is available at Springer via
http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2014-41066-
Dense random packing with a power-law size distribution: the structure factor, mass-radius relation, and pair distribution function
We consider dense random packing of disks with a power-law distribution of
radii and investigate their correlation properties. We study the corresponding
structure factor, mass-radius relation and pair distribution function of the
disk centers. A toy model of dense segments in one dimension (1d) is solved
exactly. It is shown theoretically in 1d and numerically in 1d and 2d that such
packing exhibits fractal properties. It is found that the exponent of the
power-law distribution and the fractal dimension coincide. An approximate
relation for the structure factor in arbitrary dimension is derived, which can
be used as a fitting formula in small-angle scattering. The findings can be
useful for understanding microstructural properties of various systems like
ultra-high performance concrete, high-internal-phase ratio emulsions or
biological systems.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure