No Arabic abstract
We present analytical results and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations for the mobility and microscopic structure of solid-on-solid (SOS) interfaces driven far from equilibrium by an external force, such as an applied field or (electro)chemical potential difference. The interfaces evolve under a specific stochastic dynamic with a local energy barrier (an Arrhenius dynamic), known as the transition dynamics approximation (TDA). We calculate the average height of steps on the interface, the average interface velocity, and the skewness of the interface as functions of the driving force and the height of the energy barrier. We find that the microscopic interface structure depends quite strongly on the barrier height. As the barrier becomes higher, the local interface width decreases and the skewness increases, suggesting increasing short-range correlations between the step heights.
The nanoscopic structure and the stationary propagation velocity of (1+1)-dimensional solid-on-solid interfaces in an Ising lattice-gas model, which are driven far from equilibrium by an applied force, such as a magnetic field or a difference in (electro)chemical potential, are studied by an analytic nonlinear-response approximation together with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Here we consider the case that the system is coupled to a two-dimensional phonon bath. In the resulting dynamic, transitions that conserve the system energy are forbidden, and the effects of the applied force and the interaction energies do not factorize (a so-called hard dynamic). In full agreement with previous general theoretical results we find that the local interface width changes dramatically with the applied force. However, in contrast with other hard dynamics, this change is nonmonotonic in the driving force. However, significant differences between theory and simulation are found near two special values of the driving force, where certain transitions allowed by the solid-on-solid model become forbidden by the phonon-assisted dynamic. Our results represent a significant step toward providing a solid physical foundation for kinetic Monte Carlo simulations.
The application of stress to multiphase solid-liquid systems often results in morphological instabilities. Here we propose a solid-solid phase transformation model for roughening instability in the interface between two porous materials with different porosities under normal compression stresses. This instability is triggered by a finite jump in the free energy density across the interface, and it leads to the formation of finger-like structures aligned with the principal direction of compaction. The model is proposed as an explanation for the roughening of stylolites - irregular interfaces associated with the compaction of sedimentary rocks that fluctuate about a plane perpendicular to the principal direction of compaction.
Boundary conditions for the solid-liquid interface of the solidifying pure melt have been derived. In the derivation the model of Gibbs interface is used. The boundary conditions include both the state quantities of bulk phases are taken at the interface and the quantities characterizing interfacial surface such as the surface temperature and the surface heat flux. Introduction of the surface temperature as an independent variable allows us to describe the scattering energy at the interface. For the steady-state motion of the planar interface the expression for the temperature discontinuity across the phase boundary has been obtained. Effect of Kapitza resistance on the interface velocity is considered. It is shown that heat resistance leads to non-linearity in solidification kinetics, namely, in velocity-undercooling relationship. The conditions of the steady--state motion of the planar interface has been found.
Nucleation of a solid in solid is initiated by the appearance of distinct dynamical heterogeneities, consisting of `active particles whose trajectories show an abrupt transition from ballistic to diffusive, coincident with the discontinuous transition in microstructure from a {it twinned martensite} to {it ferrite}. The active particles exhibit intermittent jamming and flow. The nature of active particle trajectories decides the fate of the transforming solid -- on suppressing single particle diffusion, the transformation proceeds via rare string-like correlated excitations, giving rise to twinned martensitic nuclei. These string-like excitations flow along ridges in the potential energy topography set up by inactive particles. We characterize this transition using a thermodynamics in the space of trajectories in terms of a dynamical action for the active particles confined by the inactive particles. Our study brings together the physics of glass, jamming, plasticity and solid nucleation.
We report a numerical study of the equation of state of crystalline body-centered-cubic (BCC) hydrogen, tackled with a variety of complementary many-body wave function methods. These include continuum stochastic techniques of fixed-node diffusion and variational quantum Monte Carlo, and the Hilbert space stochastic method of full configuration-interaction quantum Monte Carlo. In addition, periodic coupled-cluster methods were also employed. Each of these methods is underpinned with different strengths and approximations, but their combination in order to perform reliable extrapolation to complete basis set and supercell size limits gives confidence in the final results. The methods were found to be in good agreement for equilibrium cell volumes for the system in the BCC phase, with a lattice parameter of 3.307 Bohr.