A random projection method for sharp phase boundaries in lattice Boltzmann simulations

Existing lattice Boltzmann models that have been designed to recover a macroscopic description of immiscible liquids are only able to make predictions that are quantitatively correct when the interface that exists between the fluids is smeared over several nodal points. Attempts to minimise the thickness of this interface generally leads to a phenomenon known as lattice pinning, the precise cause of which is not well understood. This spurious behaviour is remarkably similar to that associated with the numerical simulation of hyperbolic partial differential equations coupled with a stiff source term. Inspired by the seminal work in this field, we derive a lattice Boltzmann implementation of a model equation used to investigate such peculiarities. This implementation is extended to different spacial discretisations in one and two dimensions. We shown that the inclusion of a quasi-random threshold dramatically delays the onset of pinning and facetting

A volume-preserving sharpening approach for the propagation of sharp phase boundaries in multiphase lattice Boltzmann simulations

Lattice Boltzmann models that recover a macroscopic description of multiphase flow of immiscible liquids typically represent the boundaries between phases using a scalar function, the phase field, that varies smoothly over several grid points. Attempts to tune the model parameters to minimise the thicknesses of these interfaces typically lead to the interfaces becoming fixed to the underlying grid instead of advecting with the fluid velocity. This phenomenon, known as lattice pinning, is strikingly similar to that associated with the numerical simulation of conservation laws coupled to stiff algebraic source terms. We present a lattice Boltzmann formulation of the model problem proposed by LeVeque and Yee [J. Comput. Phys. 86, 187] to study the latter phenomenon in the context of computational combustion, and offer a volume-conserving extension in multiple space dimensions. Inspired by the random projection method of Bao and Jin [J. Comput. Phys. 163, 216] we further generalise this formulation by introducing a uniformly distributed quasi-random variable into the term responsible for the sharpening of phase boundaries. This method is mass conserving and the statistical average of this method is shown to significantly delay the onset of pinning

Scaling in reversible submonolayer deposition

The scaling of island and monomer density, capture zone distributions (CZDs), and island size distributions (ISDs) in reversible submonolayer growth was studied using the Clarke-Vvedensky model. An approach based on rate-equation results for irreversible aggregation (IA) models is extended to predict several scaling regimes in square and triangular lattices, in agreement with simulation results. Consistently with previous works, a regime I with fractal islands is observed at low temperatures, corresponding to IA with critical island size i=1, and a crossover to a second regime appears as the temperature is increased to \epsilon R^{2/3} ~ 1, where \epsilon is the single bond detachment probability and R is the diffusion-to-deposition ratio. In the square (triangular) lattice, a regime with scaling similar to IA with i=3 (i=2) is observed after that crossover. In the triangular lattice, a subsequent crossover to an IA regime with i=3 is observed, which is explained by the recurrence properties of random walks in two dimensional lattices, which is beyond the mean-field approaches. At high temperatures, a crossover to a fully reversible regime is observed, characterized by a large density of small islands, a small density of very large islands, and total island and monomer densities increasing with temperature, in contrast to IA models. CZDs and ISDs with Gaussian right tails appear in all regimes for R ~ 10^7 or larger, including the fully reversible regime, where the CZDs are bimodal. This shows that the Pimpinelli-Einstein (PE) approach for IA explains the main mechanisms for the large islands to compete for free adatom aggregation in the reversible model, and may be the reason for its successful application to a variety of materials and growth conditions.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid in the edge channels of a quantum spin Hall insulator

Topological quantum matter is characterized by non-trivial global invariants of the bulk which induce gapless electronic states at its boundaries. A case in point are two-dimensional topological insulators (2D-TI) which host one-dimensional (1D) conducting helical edge states protected by time-reversal symmetry (TRS) against single-particle backscattering (SPB). However, as two-particle scattering is not forbidden by TRS [1], the existence of electronic interactions at the edge and their notoriously strong impact on 1D states may lead to an intriguing interplay between topology and electronic correlations. In particular, it is directly relevant to the question in which parameter regime the quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE) expected for 2D-TIs becomes obscured by these correlation effects that prevail at low temperatures [2]. Here we study the problem on bismuthene on SiC(0001) which has recently been synthesized and proposed to be a candidate material for a room-temperature QSHE [3]. By utilizing the accessibility of this monolayer-substrate system on atomic length scales by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) we observe metallic edge channels which display 1D electronic correlation effects. Specifically, we prove the correspondence with a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL), and, based on the observed universal scaling of the differential tunneling conductivity (dI/dV), we derive a TLL parameter K reflecting intermediate electronic interaction strength in the edge states of bismuthene. This establishes the first spectroscopic identification of 1D electronic correlation effects in the topological edge states of a 2D-TI

A Rapidly Spinning Black Hole Powers the Einstein Cross

Observations over the past 20 years have revealed a strong relationship between the properties of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) lying at the center of a galaxy and the host galaxy itself. The magnitude of the spin of the black hole will play a key role in determining the nature of this relationship. To date, direct estimates of black hole spin have been restricted to the local Universe. Herein, we present the results of an analysis of $\sim$ 0.5 Ms of archival Chandra observations of the gravitationally lensed quasar Q 2237+305 (aka the "Einstein-cross"), lying at a redshift of z = 1.695. The boost in flux provided by the gravitational lens allows constraints to be placed on the spin of a black hole at such high redshift for the first time. Utilizing state of the art relativistic disk reflection models, the black hole is found to have a spin of $a_* = 0.74^{+0.06}_{-0.03}$ at the 90% confidence level. Placing a lower limit on the spin, we find $a_* \geq 0.65$ (4$\sigma$). The high value of the spin for the $\rm \sim 10^9~M_{\odot}$ black hole in Q 2237+305 lends further support to the coherent accretion scenario for black hole growth. This is the most distant black hole for which the spin has been directly constrained to date.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, formatted using emulateapj.cls. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Finite-size effects in roughness distribution scaling

We study numerically finite-size corrections in scaling relations for roughness distributions of various interface growth models. The most common relation, which considers the average roughness $$as scaling factor, is not obeyed in the steady states of a group of ballistic-like models in 2+1 dimensions, even when very large system sizes are considered. On the other hand, good collapse of the same data is obtained with a scaling relation that involves the root mean square fluctuation of the roughness, which can be explained by finite-size effects on second moments of the scaling functions. We also obtain data collapse with an alternative scaling relation that accounts for the effect of the intrinsic width, which is a constant correction term previously proposed for the scaling of$$. This illustrates how finite-size corrections can be obtained from roughness distributions scaling. However, we discard the usual interpretation that the intrinsic width is a consequence of high surface steps by analyzing data of restricted solid-on-solid models with various maximal height differences between neighboring columns. We also observe that large finite-size corrections in the roughness distributions are usually accompanied by huge corrections in height distributions and average local slopes, as well as in estimates of scaling exponents. The molecular-beam epitaxy model of Das Sarma and Tamborenea in 1+1 dimensions is a case example in which none of the proposed scaling relations works properly, while the other measured quantities do not converge to the expected asymptotic values. Thus, although roughness distributions are clearly better than other quantities to determine the universality class of a growing system, it is not the final solution for this task.Comment: 25 pages, including 9 figures and 1 tabl

Roughness exponents and grain shapes

In surfaces with grainy features, the local roughness $w$ shows a crossover at a characteristic length $r_c$, with roughness exponent changing from $\alpha_1\approx 1$ to a smaller $\alpha_2$. The grain shape, the choice of $w$ or height-height correlation function (HHCF) $C$, and the procedure to calculate root mean-square averages are shown to have remarkable effects on $\alpha_1$. With grains of pyramidal shape, $\alpha_1$ can be as low as 0.71, which is much lower than the previous prediction 0.85 for rounded grains. The same crossover is observed in the HHCF, but with initial exponent $\chi_1\approx 0.5$ for flat grains, while for some conical grains it may increase to $\chi_1\approx 0.7$. The universality class of the growth process determines the exponents $\alpha_2=\chi_2$ after the crossover, but has no effect on the initial exponents $\alpha_1$ and $\chi_1$, supporting the geometric interpretation of their values. For all grain shapes and different definitions of surface roughness or HHCF, we still observe that the crossover length $r_c$ is an accurate estimate of the grain size. The exponents obtained in several recent experimental works on different materials are explained by those models, with some surface images qualitatively similar to our model films.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures and 2 table