206 research outputs found
Precursor-mediated crystallization process in suspensions of hard spheres
We report on a large scale computer simulation study of crystal nucleation in
hard spheres. Through a combined analysis of real and reciprocal space data, a
picture of a two-step crystallization process is supported: First dense,
amorphous clusters form which then act as precursors for the nucleation of
well-ordered crystallites. This kind of crystallization process has been
previously observed in systems that interact via potentials that have an
attractive as well as a repulsive part, most prominently in protein solutions.
In this context the effect has been attributed to the presence of metastable
fluid-fluid demixing. Our simulations, however, show that a purely repulsive
system (that has no metastable fluid-fluid coexistence) crystallizes via the
same mechanism.Comment: 4 figure
Tension and stiffness of the hard sphere crystal-fluid interface
A combination of fundamental measure density functional theory and Monte
Carlo computer simulation is used to determine the orientation-resolved
interfacial tension and stiffness for the equilibrium hard-sphere crystal-fluid
interface. Microscopic density functional theory is in quantitative agreement
with simulations and predicts a tension of 0.66 kT/\sigma^2 with a small
anisotropy of about 0.025 kT and stiffnesses with e.g. 0.53 kT/\sigma^2 for the
(001) orientation and 1.03 kT/\sigma^2 for the (111) orientation. Here kT is
denoting the thermal energy and \sigma the hard sphere diameter. We compare our
results with existing experimental findings
Production Processes as a Tool to Study Parameterizations of Quark Confinement
We introduce diquarks as separable correlations in the two-quark Green's
function to facilitate the description of baryons as relativistic three-quark
bound states. These states then emerge as solutions of Bethe-Salpeter equations
for quarks and diquarks that interact via quark exchange. When solving these
equations we consider various dressing functions for the free quark and diquark
propagators that prohibit the existence of corresponding asymptotic states and
thus effectively parameterize confinement. We study the implications of
qualitatively different dressing functions on the model predictions for the
masses of the octet baryons as well as the electromagnetic and strong form
factors of the nucleon. For different dressing functions we in particular
compare the predictions for kaon photoproduction, , and
associated strangeness production, with experimental data.
This leads to conclusions on the permissibility of different dressing
functions.Comment: 43 pages, Latex, 28 eps files included via epsfig; version to be
published in Physical Review
Collective dynamics of colloids at fluid interfaces
The evolution of an initially prepared distribution of micron sized colloidal
particles, trapped at a fluid interface and under the action of their mutual
capillary attraction, is analyzed by using Brownian dynamics simulations. At a
separation \lambda\ given by the capillary length of typically 1 mm, the
distance dependence of this attraction exhibits a crossover from a logarithmic
decay, formally analogous to two-dimensional gravity, to an exponential decay.
We discuss in detail the adaption of a particle-mesh algorithm, as used in
cosmological simulations to study structure formation due to gravitational
collapse, to the present colloidal problem. These simulations confirm the
predictions, as far as available, of a mean-field theory developed previously
for this problem. The evolution is monitored by quantitative characteristics
which are particularly sensitive to the formation of highly inhomogeneous
structures. Upon increasing \lambda\ the dynamics show a smooth transition from
the spinodal decomposition expected for a simple fluid with short-ranged
attraction to the self-gravitational collapse scenario.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, revised, matches version accepted for
publication in the European Physical Journal
Mesons in a Poincare Covariant Bethe-Salpeter Approach
We develop a covariant approach to describe the low-lying scalar,
pseudoscalar, vector and axialvector mesons as quark-antiquark bound states.
This approach is based on an effective interaction modeling of the
non--perturbative structure of the gluon propagator that enters the quark
Schwinger-Dyson and meson Bethe-Salpeter equations. We consistently treat these
integral equations by precisely implementing the quark propagator functions
that solve the Schwinger-Dyson equations into the Bethe-Salpeter equations in
the relevant kinematical region. We extract the meson masses and compute the
pion and kaon decay constants. We obtain a quantitatively correct description
for pions, kaons and vector mesons while the calculated spectra of scalar and
axialvector mesons suggest that their structure is more complex than being
quark-antiquark bound states.Comment: 18 pages LaTeX, 5 figures; some changes in the presentation, new
results on axial vector mesons in enlarged mixing scheme; version to be
published in Physical Review
Effective interactions of colloids on nematic films
The elastic and capillary interactions between a pair of colloidal particles
trapped on top of a nematic film are studied theoretically for large
separations . The elastic interaction is repulsive and of quadrupolar type,
varying as . For macroscopically thick films, the capillary interaction
is likewise repulsive and proportional to as a consequence of
mechanical isolation of the system comprised of the colloids and the interface.
A finite film thickness introduces a nonvanishing force on the system (exerted
by the substrate supporting the film) leading to logarithmically varying
capillary attractions. However, their strength turns out to be too small to be
of importance for the recently observed pattern formation of colloidal droplets
on nematic films.Comment: 13 pages, accepted by EPJ
Free energy of colloidal particles at the surface of sessile drops
The influence of finite system size on the free energy of a spherical
particle floating at the surface of a sessile droplet is studied both
analytically and numerically. In the special case that the contact angle at the
substrate equals a capillary analogue of the method of images is
applied in order to calculate small deformations of the droplet shape if an
external force is applied to the particle. The type of boundary conditions for
the droplet shape at the substrate determines the sign of the capillary
monopole associated with the image particle. Therefore, the free energy of the
particle, which is proportional to the interaction energy of the original
particle with its image, can be of either sign, too. The analytic solutions,
given by the Green's function of the capillary equation, are constructed such
that the condition of the forces acting on the droplet being balanced and of
the volume constraint are fulfilled. Besides the known phenomena of attraction
of a particle to a free contact line and repulsion from a pinned one, we
observe a local free energy minimum for the particle being located at the drop
apex or at an intermediate angle, respectively. This peculiarity can be traced
back to a non-monotonic behavior of the Green's function, which reflects the
interplay between the deformations of the droplet shape and the volume
constraint.Comment: 24 pages, 19 figure
Hard sphere fluids confined between soft repulsive walls: A comparative study using Monte Carlo and density functional methods
Hard-sphere fluids confined between parallel plates a distance apart are
studied for a wide range of packing fractions, including also the onset of
crystallization, applying Monte Carlo simulation techniques and density
functional theory. The walls repel the hard spheres (of diameter ) with
a Weeks-Chandler-Andersen (WCA) potential , with range . We
vary the strength over a wide range and the case of simple hard
walls is also treated for comparison. By the variation of one can
change both the surface excess packing fraction and the wall-fluid
and wall-crystal surface free energies. Several
different methods to extract and from Monte Carlo
(MC) simulations are implemented, and their accuracy and efficiency is
comparatively discussed. The density functional theory (DFT) using Fundamental
Measure functionals is found to be quantitatively accurate over a wide range of
packing fractions; small deviations between DFT and MC near the fluid to
crystal transition need to be studied further. Our results on density profiles
near soft walls could be useful to interpret corresponding experiments with
suitable colloidal dispersions.Comment: 23 pages, 7 ps, eps figure
Bethe-Salpeter equation and a nonperturbative quark-gluon vertex
A Ward-Takahashi identity preserving Bethe-Salpeter kernel can always be
calculated explicitly from a dressed-quark-gluon vertex whose diagrammatic
content is enumerable. We illustrate that fact using a vertex obtained via the
complete resummation of dressed-gluon ladders. While this vertex is planar, the
vertex-consistent kernel is nonplanar and that is true for any dressed vertex.
In an exemplifying model the rainbow-ladder truncation of the gap and
Bethe-Salpeter equations yields many results; e.g., pi- and rho-meson masses,
that are changed little by including higher-order corrections. Repulsion
generated by nonplanar diagrams in the vertex-consistent Bethe-Salpeter kernel
for quark-quark scattering is sufficient to guarantee that diquark bound states
do not exist.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, REVTEX
Sigma Terms of Light-Quark Hadrons
A calculation of the current-quark mass dependence of hadron masses can help
in using observational data to place constraints on the variation of nature's
fundamental parameters. A hadron's sigma-term is a measure of this dependence.
The connection between a hadron's sigma-term and the Feynman-Hellmann theorem
is illustrated with an explicit calculation for the pion using a rainbow-ladder
truncation of the Dyson-Schwinger equations: in the vicinity of the chiral
limit sigma_pi = m_pi/2. This truncation also provides a decent estimate of
sigma_rho because the two dominant self-energy corrections to the rho-meson's
mass largely cancel in their contribution to sigma_rho. The truncation is less
accurate for the omega, however, because there is little to compete with an
omega->rho+pi self-energy contribution that magnifies the value of sigma_omega
by ~25%. A Poincare' covariant Faddeev equation, which describes baryons as
composites of confined-quarks and -nonpointlike-diquarks, is solved to obtain
the current-quark mass dependence of the masses of the nucleon and Delta, and
thereby sigma_N and sigma_Delta. This "quark-core" piece is augmented by the
"pion cloud" contribution, which is positive. The analysis yields sigma_N~60MeV
and sigma_Delta~50MeV.Comment: 22 pages, reference list expande
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