227 research outputs found
Designed Interaction Potentials via Inverse Methods for Self-Assembly
We formulate statistical-mechanical inverse methods in order to determine
optimized interparticle interactions that spontaneously produce target
many-particle configurations. Motivated by advances that give experimentalists
greater and greater control over colloidal interaction potentials, we propose
and discuss two computational algorithms that search for optimal potentials for
self-assembly of a given target configuration. The first optimizes the
potential near the ground state and the second near the melting point. We begin
by applying these techniques to assembling open structures in two dimensions
(square and honeycomb lattices) using only circularly symmetric pair
interaction potentials ; we demonstrate that the algorithms do indeed cause
self-assembly of the target lattice. Our approach is distinguished from
previous work in that we consider (i) lattice sums, (ii) mechanical stability
(phonon spectra), and (iii) annealed Monte Carlo simulations. We also devise
circularly symmetric potentials that yield chain-like structures as well as
systems of clusters.Comment: 28 pages, 23 figure
Effective Dielectric Tensor for Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in Random Media
We derive exact strong-contrast expansions for the effective dielectric
tensor \epeff of electromagnetic waves propagating in a two-phase composite
random medium with isotropic components explicitly in terms of certain
integrals over the -point correlation functions of the medium. Our focus is
the long-wavelength regime, i.e., when the wavelength is much larger than the
scale of inhomogeneities in the medium. Lower-order truncations of these
expansions lead to approximations for the effective dielectric constant that
depend upon whether the medium is below or above the percolation threshold. In
particular, we apply two- and three-point approximations for \epeff to a
variety of different three-dimensional model microstructures, including
dispersions of hard spheres, hard oriented spheroids and fully penetrable
spheres as well as Debye random media, the random checkerboard, and
power-law-correlated materials. We demonstrate the importance of employing
-point correlation functions of order higher than two for high
dielectric-phase-contrast ratio. We show that disorder in the microstructure
results in an imaginary component of the effective dielectric tensor that is
directly related to the {\it coarseness} of the composite, i.e., local
volume-fraction fluctuations for infinitely large windows. The source of this
imaginary component is the attenuation of the coherent homogenized wave due to
scattering. We also remark on whether there is such attenuation in the case of
a two-phase medium with a quasiperiodic structure.Comment: 40 pages, 13 figure
Vitrification of a monatomic 2D simple liquid
A monatomic simple liquid in two dimensions, where atoms interact
isotropically through the Lennard-Jones-Gauss potential [M. Engel and H.-R.
Trebin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 225505 (2007)], is vitrified by the use of a rapid
cooling technique in a molecular dynamics simulation. Transformation to a
crystalline state is investigated at various temperatures and the
time-temperature-transformation (TTT) curve is determined. It is found that the
transformation time to a crystalline state is the shortest at a temerature 14%
below the melting temperature Tm and that at temperatures below Tv = 0.6 Tm the
transformation time is much longer than the available CPU time. This indicates
that a long-lived glassy state is realized for T < Tv.Comment: 5pages,5figures,accepted for publication in CEJ
Self-assembly of the simple cubic lattice with an isotropic potential
Conventional wisdom presumes that low-coordinated crystal ground states
require directional interactions. Using our recently introduced optimization
procedure to achieve self-assembly of targeted structures (Phys. Rev. Lett. 95,
228301 (2005), Phys. Rev. E 73, 011406 (2006)), we present an isotropic pair
potential for a three-dimensional many-particle system whose classical
ground state is the low-coordinated simple cubic (SC) lattice. This result is
part of an ongoing pursuit by the authors to develop analytical and
computational tools to solve statistical-mechanical inverse problems for the
purpose of achieving targeted self-assembly. The purpose of these methods is to
design interparticle interactions that cause self-assembly of technologically
important target structures for applications in photonics, catalysis,
separation, sensors and electronics. We also show that standard approximate
integral-equation theories of the liquid state that utilize pair correlation
function information cannot be used in the reverse mode to predict the correct
simple cubic potential. We report in passing optimized isotropic potentials
that yield the body-centered cubic and simple hexagonal lattices, which provide
other examples of non-close-packed structures that can be assembled using
isotropic pair interactions.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review
PT-symmetry in honeycomb photonic lattices
We apply gain/loss to honeycomb photonic lattices and show that the
dispersion relation is identical to tachyons - particles with imaginary mass
that travel faster than the speed of light. This is accompanied by PT-symmetry
breaking in this structure. We further show that the PT-symmetry can be
restored by deforming the lattice
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