11,772 research outputs found
Diffusive spreading and mixing of fluid monolayers
The use of ultra-thin, i.e., monolayer films plays an important role for the
emerging field of nano-fluidics. Since the dynamics of such films is governed
by the interplay between substrate-fluid and fluid-fluid interactions, the
transport of matter in nanoscale devices may be eventually efficiently
controlled by substrate engineering. For such films, the dynamics is expected
to be captured by two-dimensional lattice-gas models with interacting
particles. Using a lattice gas model and the non-linear diffusion equation
derived from the microscopic dynamics in the continuum limit, we study two
problems of relevance in the context of nano-fluidics. The first one is the
case in which along the spreading direction of a monolayer a mesoscopic-sized
obstacle is present, with a particular focus on the relaxation of the fluid
density profile upon encountering and passing the obstacle. The second one is
the mixing of two monolayers of different particle species which spread side by
side following the merger of two chemical lanes, here defined as domains of
high affinity for fluid adsorption surrounded by domains of low affinity for
fluid adsorption.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
Active colloids at fluid interfaces
If an active Janus particle is trapped at the interface between a liquid and
a fluid, its self-propelled motion along the interface is affected by a net
torque on the particle due to the viscosity contrast between the two adjacent
fluid phases. For a simple model of an active, spherical Janus colloid we
analyze the conditions under which translation occurs along the interface and
we provide estimates of the corresponding persistence length. We show that
under certain conditions the persistence length of such a particle is
significantly larger than the corresponding one in the bulk liquid, which is in
line with the trends observed in recent experimental studies
Turbulence, Complexity, and Solar Flares
The issue of predicting solar flares is one of the most fundamental in
physics, addressing issues of plasma physics, high-energy physics, and
modelling of complex systems. It also poses societal consequences, with our
ever-increasing need for accurate space weather forecasts. Solar flares arise
naturally as a competition between an input (flux emergence and rearrangement)
in the photosphere and an output (electrical current build up and resistive
dissipation) in the corona. Although initially localised, this redistribution
affects neighbouring regions and an avalanche occurs resulting in large scale
eruptions of plasma, particles, and magnetic field. As flares are powered from
the stressed field rooted in the photosphere, a study of the photospheric
magnetic complexity can be used to both predict activity and understand the
physics of the magnetic field. The magnetic energy spectrum and multifractal
spectrum are highlighted as two possible approaches to this.Comment: 2 figure
A model for fluvial bedrock incision by impacting suspended and bed load sediment
A mechanistic model is derived for the rate of fluvial erosion into bedrock by abrasion from uniform size particles that impact the bed during transport in both bed and suspended load. The erosion rate is equated to the product of the impact rate, the mass loss per particle impact, and a bed coverage term. Unlike previous models that consider only bed load, the impact rate is not assumed to tend to zero as the shear velocity approaches the threshold for suspension. Instead, a given sediment supply is distributed between the bed and suspended load by using formulas for the bed load layer height, bed load velocity, logarithmic fluid velocity profile, and Rouse sediment concentration profile. It is proposed that the impact rate scales linearly with the product of the near-bed sediment concentration and the impact velocity and that particles impact the bed because of gravitational settling and advection by turbulent eddies. Results suggest, unlike models that consider only bed load, that the erosion rate increases with increasing transport stage (for a given relative sediment supply), even for transport stages that exceed the onset of suspension. In addition, erosion can occur if the supply of sediment exceeds the bed load transport capacity because a portion of the sediment load is transported in suspension. These results have implications for predicting erosion rates and channel morphology, especially in rivers with fine sediment, steep channel-bed slopes, and large flood events
First-order layering and critical wetting transitions in non-additive hard sphere mixtures
Using fundamental-measure density functional theory we investigate entropic
wetting in an asymmetric binary mixture of hard spheres with positive
non-additivity. We consider a general planar hard wall, where preferential
adsorption is induced by a difference in closest approach of the different
species and the wall. Close to bulk fluid-fluid coexistence the phase rich in
the minority component adsorbs either through a series of first-order layering
transitions, where an increasing number of liquid layers adsorbs sequentially,
or via a critical wetting transition, where a thick film grows continuously.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Collective dynamics of chemically active particles trapped at a fluid interface
Chemically active colloids generate changes in the chemical composition of
their surrounding solution and thereby induce flows in the ambient fluid which
affect their dynamical evolution. Here we study the many-body dynamics of a
monolayer of active particles trapped at a fluid-fluid interface. To this end
we consider a mean-field model which incorporates the direct pair interaction
(including also the capillary interaction which is caused specifically by the
interfacial trapping) as well as the effect of hydrodynamic interactions
(including the Marangoni flow induced by the response of the interface to the
chemical activity). The values of the relevant physical parameters for typical
experimental realizations of such systems are estimated and various scenarios,
which are predicted by our approach for the dynamics of the monolayer, are
discussed. In particular, we show that the chemically-induced Marangoni flow
can prevent the clustering instability driven by the capillary attraction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Pearling instability of nanoscale fluid flow confined to a chemical channel
We investigate the flow of a nano-scale incompressible ridge of
low-volatility liquid along a "chemical channel": a long, straight, and
completely wetting stripe embedded in a planar substrate, and sandwiched
between two extended less wetting solid regions. Molecular dynamics
simulations, a simple long-wavelength approximation, and a full stability
analysis based on the Stokes equations are used, and give qualitatively
consistent results. While thin liquid ridges are stable both statically and
during flow, a (linear) pearling instability develops if the thickness of the
ridge exceeds half of the width of the channel. In the flowing case periodic
bulges propagate along the channel and subsequently merge due to nonlinear
effects. However, the ridge does not break up even when the flow is unstable,
and the qualitative behavior is unchanged even when the fluid can spill over
onto a partially wetting exterior solid region.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Physics of Fluids, fixed equation
numbering after Eq. (17
High Redshift Quasars and Star Formation in the Early Universe
In order to derive information on the star formation history in the early
universe we observed 6 high-redshift (z=3.4) quasars in the near-infrared to
measure the relative iron and \mgii emission strengths. A detailed comparison
of the resulting spectra with those of low-redshift quasars show essentially
the same FeII/MgII emission ratios and very similar continuum and line spectral
properties, indicating a lack of evolution of the relative iron to magnesium
abundance of the gas since z=3.4 in bright quasars. On the basis of current
chemical evolution scenarios of galaxies, where magnesium is produced in
massive stars ending in type II SNe, while iron is formed predominantly in SNe
of type Ia with a delay of ~1 Gyr and assuming as cosmological parameters H_o =
72 km/s Mpc, Omega_M = 0.3, and Omega_Lambda = 0.7$, we conclude that major
star formation activity in the host galaxies of our z=3.4 quasars must have
started already at an epoch corresponding to z_f ~= 10, when the age of the
universe was less than 0.5 Gyrs.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, ApJ in pres
Lateral and normal forces between patterned substrates induced by nematic fluctuations
We consider a nematic liquid crystal confined by two parallel flat substrates
whose anchoring conditions vary periodically in one lateral direction. Within
the Gaussian approximation, we study the effective forces between the patterned
substrates induced by the thermal fluctuations of the nematic director. The
shear force oscillates as function of the lateral shift between the patterns on
the lower and the upper substrates. We compare the strength of this
fluctuation-induced lateral force with the lateral van der Waals force arising
from chemically structured adsorbed monolayers. The fluctuation-induced force
in normal direction is either repulsive or attractive, depending on the model
parameters.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
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