315 research outputs found
Square to stripe transition and superlattice patterns in vertically oscillated granular layers
We investigated the physical mechanism for the pattern transition from square
lattice to stripes, which appears in vertically oscillating granular layers. We
present a continuum model to show that the transition depends on the
competition between inertial force and local saturation of transport. By
introducing multiple free-flight times, this model further enables us to
analyze the formation of superlattices as well as hexagonal lattice
Dynamics of fluctuations in a fluid below the onset of Rayleigh-B\'enard convection
We present experimental data and their theoretical interpretation for the
decay rates of temperature fluctuations in a thin layer of a fluid heated from
below and confined between parallel horizontal plates. The measurements were
made with the mean temperature of the layer corresponding to the critical
isochore of sulfur hexafluoride above but near the critical point where
fluctuations are exceptionally strong. They cover a wide range of temperature
gradients below the onset of Rayleigh-B\'enard convection, and span wave
numbers on both sides of the critical value for this onset. The decay rates
were determined from experimental shadowgraph images of the fluctuations at
several camera exposure times. We present a theoretical expression for an
exposure-time-dependent structure factor which is needed for the data analysis.
As the onset of convection is approached, the data reveal the critical
slowing-down associated with the bifurcation. Theoretical predictions for the
decay rates as a function of the wave number and temperature gradient are
presented and compared with the experimental data. Quantitative agreement is
obtained if allowance is made for some uncertainty in the small spacing between
the plates, and when an empirical estimate is employed for the influence of
symmetric deviations from the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation which are to be
expected in a fluid with its density at the mean temperature located on the
critical isochore.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, 52 reference
Shapes, contact angles, and line tensions of droplets on cylinders
Using an interface displacement model we calculate the shapes of
nanometer-size liquid droplets on homogeneous cylindrical surfaces. We
determine effective contact angles and line tensions, the latter defined as
excess free energies per unit length associated with the two contact lines at
the ends of the droplet. The dependences of these quantities on the cylinder
radius and on the volume of the droplets are analyzed.Comment: 26 pages, RevTeX, 10 Figure
Structural and dynamical properties of superfluid helium: a density functional approach
We present a novel density functional for liquid 4He, properly accounting for
the static response function and the phonon-roton dispersion in the uniform
liquid. The functional is used to study both structural and dynamical
properties of superfluid helium in various geometries. The equilibrium
properties of the free surface, droplets and films at zero temperature are
calculated. Our predictions agree closely to the results of ab initio Monte
Carlo calculations, when available. The introduction of a phenomenological
velocity dependent interaction, which accounts for backflow effects, is
discussed. The spectrum of the elementary excitations of the free surface and
films is studied.Comment: 37 pages, REVTeX 3.0, figures on request at [email protected]
A microscopic approach to the response of He -He mixtures
Correlated Basis Function perturbation theory is used to evaluate the zero
temperature response of He-He mixtures for inelastic
neutron scattering, at momentum transfers ranging from to . We adopt a Jastrow correlated ground state and a basis of correlated
particle-hole and phonon states. We insert correlated one particle-one hole and
one-phonon states to compute the second order response. The decay of the
one-phonon states into two-phonon states is accounted for in boson-boson
approximation. The full response is splitted into three partial components
, each of them showing a particle-hole bump and a
one phonon, delta shaped peak, which stays separated from the multiphonon
background. The cross term results to be of comparable
importance to in the particle-hole sector and to
in the phonon one. Once the one-phonon peak has been
convoluted with the experimental broadening, the computed scattering function
is in semiquantitative agreement with recent experimental measurements.Comment: 26 pages, RevTex 3.0, 8 figures available upon reques
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