Facet Formation in the Negative Quenched Kardar-Parisi-Zhang Equation

The quenched Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (QKPZ) equation with negative non-linear term shows a first order pinning-depinning (PD) transition as the driving force $F$ is varied. We study the substrate-tilt dependence of the dynamic transition properties in 1+1 dimensions. At the PD transition, the pinned surfaces form a facet with a characteristic slope $s_c$ as long as the substrate-tilt $m$ is less than $s_c$. When $m<s_c$, the transition is discontinuous and the critical value of the driving force $F_c(m)$ is independent of $m$, while the transition is continuous and $F_c(m)$ increases with $m$ when $m>s_c$. We explain these features from a pinning mechanism involving a localized pinning center and the self-organized facet formation.Comment: 4 pages, source TeX file and 7 PS figures are tarred and compressed via uufile

The price Asian venture capitalists pay to work in Silicon Valley

They pay higher valuations due to their lower social status rather than social network disadvantages, write Jing Zhang, Poh-Kam Wong and Yuen-Ping H

Depinning in a Random Medium

We develop a renormalized continuum field theory for a directed polymer interacting with a random medium and a single extended defect. The renormalization group is based on the operator algebra of the pinning potential; it has novel features due to the breakdown of hyperscaling in a random system. There is a second-order transition between a localized and a delocalized phase of the polymer; we obtain analytic results on its critical pinning strength and scaling exponents. Our results are directly related to spatially inhomogeneous Kardar-Parisi-Zhang surface growth.Comment: 11 pages (latex) with one figure (now printable, no other changes

Comment on ``Force Balance at the Transition from Selective Withdrawal to Viscous Entrainment

Comment on paper by Blanchette and Zhang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 144501 (2009)

Yingjin Zhang. The city in modern Chinese literature and film : configurations of space, time, and gender

This article reviews the book The City in Modern Chinese Literature and Film: Configurations of Space, Time, and Gender written by Yingjin Zhang