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