Intermittent "Turbulence" in a Many-body System
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
2020-07-01 v2 Soft Condensed Matter
Abstract
In natural settings, intermittent dynamics are ubiquitous and often arise from a coupling between external driving and spatial heterogeneities. A well-known example is the generation of transient, turbulent puffs of fluid through a pipe with rough walls. Here we show how similar dynamics can emerge in a discrete, crystalline system of particles driven by noise. Polydispersity in particle masses leads to localized vibrational modes that effectuate a transition to a gas-like phase. A minimal model for the evolution of the system's mechanical energies exhibits quasi-cyclic oscillations, and a single, dimensionless number captures the essential features of the intermittent dynamics, analogous to the Reynolds number for pipe flow.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1901.10567,
title = {Intermittent "Turbulence" in a Many-body System},
author = {Guram Gogia and Wentao Yu and Justin C. Burton},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1901.10567},
year = {2020}
}