209 research outputs found
Adsorption hysteresis and capillary condensation in disordered porous solids: a density functional study
We present a theoretical study of capillary condensation of fluids adsorbed
in mesoporous disordered media. Combining mean-field density functional theory
with a coarse-grained description in terms of a lattice-gas model allows us to
investigate both the out-of-equilibrium (hysteresis) and the equilibrium
behavior. We show that the main features of capillary condensation in
disordered solids result from the appearance of a complex free-energy landscape
with a large number of metastable states. We detail the numerical procedures
for finding these states, and the presence or absence of transitions in the
thermodynamic limit is determined by careful finite-size studies.Comment: 30 pages, 18 figures. To appear in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte
Capillary condensation in disordered porous materials: hysteresis versus equilibrium behavior
We study the interplay between hysteresis and equilibrium behavior in
capillary condensation of fluids in mesoporous disordered materials via a
mean-field density functional theory of a disordered lattice-gas model. The
approach reproduces all major features observed experimentally. We show that
the simple van der Waals picture of metastability fails due to the appearance
of a complex free-energy landscape with a large number of metastable states. In
particular, hysteresis can occur both with and without an underlying
equilibrium transition, thermodynamic consistency is not satisfied along the
hysteresis loop, and out-of-equilibrium phase transitions are possible.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Slow dynamics of a confined supercooled binary mixture II: Q space analysis
We report the analysis in the wavevector space of the density correlator of a
Lennard Jones binary mixture confined in a disordered matrix of soft spheres
upon supercooling. In spite of the strong confining medium the behavior of the
mixture is consistent with the Mode Coupling Theory predictions for bulk
supercooled liquids. The relaxation times extracted from the fit of the density
correlator to the stretched exponential function follow a unique power law
behavior as a function of wavevector and temperature. The von Schweidler
scaling properties are valid for an extended wavevector range around the peak
of the structure factor. The parameters extracted in the present work are
compared with the bulk values obtained in literature.Comment: 8 pages with 8 figures. RevTeX. Accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev.
Lattice model of gas condensation within nanopores
We explore the thermodynamic behavior of gases adsorbed within a nanopore.
The theoretical description employs a simple lattice gas model, with two
species of site, expected to describe various regimes of adsorption and
condensation behavior. The model includes four hypothetical phases: a
cylindrical shell phase (S), in which the sites close to the cylindrical wall
are occupied, an axial phase (A), in which sites along the cylinder's axis are
occupied, a full phase (F), in which all sites are occupied, and an empty phase
(E). We obtain exact results at T=0 for the phase behavior, which is a function
of the interactions present in any specific problem. We obtain the
corresponding results at finite T from mean field theory. Finally, we examine
the model's predicted phase behavior of some real gases adsorbed in nanopores
Diagnosing collisions of magnetized, high energy density plasma flows using a combination of collective Thomson scattering, Faraday rotation, and interferometry
Unified analysis of terminal-time control in classical and quantum systems
Many phenomena in physics, chemistry, and biology involve seeking an optimal
control to maximize an objective for a classical or quantum system which is
open and interacting with its environment. The complexity of finding an optimal
control for maximizing an objective is strongly affected by the possible
existence of sub-optimal maxima. Within a unified framework under specified
conditions, control objectives for maximizing at a terminal time physical
observables of open classical and quantum systems are shown to be inherently
free of sub-optimal maxima. This attractive feature is of central importance
for enabling the discovery of controls in a seamless fashion in a wide range of
phenomena transcending the quantum and classical regimes.Comment: 10 page
Probing helium interfaces with light scattering : from fluid mechanics to statistical physics
We have investigated the formation of helium droplets in two physical
situations. In the first one, droplets are atomised from superfluid or normal
liquid by a fast helium vapour flow. In the second, droplets of normal liquid
are formed inside porous glasses during the process of helium condensation. The
context, aims, and results of these experiments are reviewed, with focus on the
specificity of light scattering by helium. In particular, we discuss how, for
different reasons, the closeness to unity of the index of refraction of helium
allows in both cases to minimise the problem of multiple scattering and obtain
results which it would not be possible to get using other fluids.Comment: 21 page
Toward Rational Design of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Sensing Applications: Efficient Calculation of Adsorption Characteristics in Zero Loading Regime
Evolution of a Plasma Waveguide Created during Relativistic-Ponderomotive Self-Channeling of an Intense Laser Pulse
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