Jamming, two-fluid behaviour and 'self-filtration' in concentrated particulate suspensions

We study the flow of model experimental hard sphere colloidal suspensions at high volume fraction $\Phi$ driven through a constriction by a pressure gradient. Above a particle-size dependent limit $\Phi_0$, direct microscopic observations demonstrate jamming and unjamming--conversion of fluid to solid and vice versa--during flow. We show that such a jamming flow produces a reduction in colloid concentration $\Phi_{x}$ downstream of the constriction. We propose that this `self-filtration' effect is the consequence of a combination of jamming of the particulate part of the system and continuing flow of the liquid part, i.e. the solvent, through the pores of the jammed solid. Thus we link the concept of jamming in colloidal and granular media with a 'two-fluid'-like picture of the flow of concentrated suspensions. Results are also discussed in the light of Osborne Reynolds' original experiments on dilation in granular materials.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Familial vasculitides: granulomatosis with polyangitis and microscopic polyangitis in two brothers with differing anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody specificity

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a group of rare autoimmune diseases. Although the aetiology of AAV is uncertain, it is likely that genetic and environmental factors contribute. We report the unusual case of two brothers presenting with AAV with differing clinical pictures and differing ANCA specificity. There is a recently identified difference in genetic risk factors associated with ANCA specificity, making it surprising that first-degree relatives develop AAV with differing clinical and serological features. Our report illustrates the complex aetiology of AAV and suggests that further research on the interaction of genetic and environmental factors is needed

Quantum lost property: a possible operational meaning for the Hilbert-Schmidt product

Minimum error state discrimination between two mixed states \rho and \sigma can be aided by the receipt of "classical side information" specifying which states from some convex decompositions of \rho and \sigma apply in each run. We quantify this phenomena by the average trace distance, and give lower and upper bounds on this quantity as functions of \rho and \sigma. The lower bound is simply the trace distance between \rho and \sigma, trivially seen to be tight. The upper bound is \sqrt{1 - tr(\rho\sigma)}, and we conjecture that this is also tight. We reformulate this conjecture in terms of the existence of a pair of "unbiased decompositions", which may be of independent interest, and prove it for a few special cases. Finally, we point towards a link with a notion of non-classicality known as preparation contextuality.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. v2: Less typos in text and less punctuation in titl

Properties of cage rearrangements observed near the colloidal glass transition

We use confocal microscopy to study the motions of particles in concentrated colloidal systems. Near the glass transition, diffusive motion is inhibited, as particles spend time trapped in transient ``cages'' formed by neighboring particles. We measure the cage sizes and lifetimes, which respectively shrink and grow as the glass transition approaches. Cage rearrangements are more prevalent in regions with lower local concentrations and higher disorder. Neighboring rearranging particles typically move in parallel directions, although a nontrivial fraction move in anti-parallel directions, usually from pairs of particles with initial separations corresponding to the local maxima and minima of the pair correlation function $g(r)$, respectively.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; text & figures revised in v

Hard Spheres: Crystallization and Glass Formation

Motivated by old experiments on colloidal suspensions, we report molecular dynamics simulations of assemblies of hard spheres, addressing crystallization and glass formation. The simulations cover wide ranges of polydispersity s (standard deviation of the particle size distribution divided by its mean) and particle concentration. No crystallization is observed for s > 0.07. For 0.02 < s < 0.07, we find that increasing the polydispersity at a given concentration slows down crystal nucleation. The main effect here is that polydispersity reduces the supersaturation since it tends to stabilise the fluid but to destabilise the crystal. At a given polydispersity (< 0.07) we find three regimes of nucleation: standard nucleation and growth at concentrations in and slightly above the coexistence region; "spinodal nucleation", where the free energy barrier to nucleation appears to be negligible, at intermediate concentrations; and, at the highest concentrations, a new mechanism, still to be fully understood, which only requires small re-arrangement of the particle positions. The cross-over between the second and third regimes occurs at a concentration, around 58% by volume, where the colloid experiments show a marked change in the nature of the crystals formed and the particle dynamics indicate an "ideal" glass transition

Short-time rotational diffusion in monodisperse charge-stabilized colloidal suspensions

We investigate the combined effects of electrostatic interactions and hydrodynamic interactions on the short-time rotational self-diffusion coefficient in charge-stabilized suspensions. We calculate this coefficient as a function of volume fraction for various effective particle charges and amounts of added electrolyte. The influence of the hydrodynamic interactions on the rotational diffusion coefficient is less pronounced for charged particles than for uncharged ones. Salt-free suspensions are weakly influenced by hydrodynamic interactions. For these strongly correlated systems we obtain a quadratic volume fraction-dependence of the diffusion coefficient, which is well explained in terms of an effective hard sphere model.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX, 7 Postscript figures included using epsf, to appear in Physica

Crystal Nucleation of Colloidal Suspensions under Shear

We use Brownian Dynamics simulations in combination with the umbrella sampling technique to study the effect of shear flow on homogeneous crystal nucleation. We find that a homogeneous shear rate leads to a significant suppression of the crystal nucleation rate and to an increase of the size of the critical nucleus. A simple, phenomenological extension of classical nucleation theory accounts for these observations. The orientation of the crystal nucleus is tilted with respect to the shear direction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Self-diffusion coefficients of charged particles: Prediction of Nonlinear volume fraction dependence

We report on calculations of the translational and rotational short-time self-diffusion coefficients $D^t_s$ and $D^r_s$ for suspensions of charge-stabilized colloidal spheres. These diffusion coefficients are affected by electrostatic forces and many-body hydrodynamic interactions (HI). Our computations account for both two-body and three-body HI. For strongly charged particles, we predict interesting nonlinear scaling relations $D^t_s\propto 1-a_t\phi^{4/3}$ and $D^r_s\propto 1-a_r\phi^2$ depending on volume fraction $\phi$, with essentially charge-independent parameters $a_t$ and $a_r$. These scaling relations are strikingly different from the corresponding results for hard spheres. Our numerical results can be explained using a model of effective hard spheres. Moreover, we perceptibly improve the known result for $D^t_s$ of hard sphere suspensions.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, 3 Postscript figures included using eps

Crystallization of hard-sphere glasses

We study by molecular dynamics the interplay between arrest and crystallization in hard spheres. For state points in the plane of volume fraction ($0.54 \leq phi \leq 0.63$) and polydispersity ($0 \leq s \leq 0.085$), we delineate states that spontaneously crystallize from those that do not. For noncrystallizing (or precrystallization) samples we find isodiffusivity lines consistent with an ideal glass transition at $\phi_g \approx 0.585$, independent of $s$. Despite this, for $s<0.05$, crystallization occurs at $\phi > \phi_g$. This happens on time scales for which the system is aging, and a diffusive regime in the mean square displacement is not reached; by those criteria, the system is a glass. Hence, contrary to a widespread assumption in the colloid literature, the occurrence of spontaneous crystallization within a bulk amorphous state does not prove that this state was an ergodic fluid rather than a glass.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Radial vibration measurements directly from rotors using laser vibrometry: The effects of surface roughness, instrument misalignments and pseudo-vibration

Laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) offers an attractive solution when radial vibration measurement directly from a rotor surface is required. Research to date has demonstrated application on polished-circular rotors and rotors coated with retro-reflective tape. In the latter case, however, a significant cross-sensitivity to the orthogonal radial vibration component occurs and post-processing is required to resolve individual radial vibration components. Until now, the fundamentally different behaviour observed between these cases has stood as an inconsistency in the published literature, symptomatic of the need to understand the effect of surface roughness. This paper offers the first consistent mathematical description of the polished-circular and rough rotor behaviours, combined with an experimental investigation of the relationship between surface roughness and cross-sensitivity. Rotors with surface roughness up to 10 nm satisfy the polished-circular rotor definition if vibration displacement is below 100% beam diameter, for a 90 μm beam, and below 40% beam diameter, for a 520 μm beam. On rotors with roughness between 10 nm and 50 nm, the polished-circular rotor definition is satisfied for vibration displacements up to 25% beam diameter, for a 90 μm beam, and up to 10% beam diameter, for a 520 μm beam. As roughness increases, cross-sensitivity increases but only rotors coated in retro-reflective tape satisfied the rough rotor definition fully. Consequently, when polished-circular surfaces are not available, rotor surfaces must be treated with retro-reflective tape and measurements post-processed to resolve individual vibration components. Through simulations, the value of the resolution and correction algorithms that form the post-processor has been demonstrated quantitatively. Simulations incorporating representative instrument misalignments and measurement noise have enabled quantification of likely error levels in radial vibration measurements. On a polished-circular rotor, errors around 0.2% for amplitude and 2 mrad for phase are likely, rising a little at the integer orders affected by pseudo-vibration. Higher pseudo-vibration levels and the need for resolution increase errors in the rough rotor measurements, especially around the synchronous frequency where errors reach 20% by amplitude and 100 mrad for phase. Outside a range of half an order either side of first order, errors are ten times lower and beyond fifth order errors are similar to those for the polished-circular rotor. Further simulations were performed to estimate sensitivities to axial vibration, speed variation and bending vibrations. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd