Related papers: Delayed nucleation in lipid particles
Metastable phases may be spontaneously formed from other metastable phases through nucleation. Here we demonstrate the spontaneous formation of a metastable phase from an unstable equilibrium by spinodal decomposition, which leads to a…
Two-dimensional classical cluster of particles interacting through a screened Coulomb potential is studied. This system can be used as a model for "dusty particles" in high-frequency discharge plasma. For systems consisting of N = 2 - 40…
We describe a phase transition that gives rise to structurally non-trivial states in a two-dimensional ordered network of particles connected by harmonic bonds. Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the network supports, apart from the…
We present a study of the nucleation mechanism that allows the decay of the metastable phase (trans-cisoid) to the stable phase (cis-transoid) in quasi one-dimensional non-degenerate polymers within the continuum electron-phonon model. The…
First-order phase transitions occur through the nucleation of critical bubbles of the stable phase within the metastable phase. Using holography, we present a fully microscopic description of these bubbles in a strongly coupled,…
In the absence of disorder, electrons can display glassy behavior through supercooling the liquid state, avoiding the solidification into a charge ordered state. Such supercooled electron liquids are experimentally found in organic…
In the lyotropic phase of lipids with excess water, multilamellar tubules (MLTs) grow from defects. A phenomenological model for the stability of MLTs is developed that is universal and independent of the underlying growth mechanisms of…
Cold atoms, loaded into an optical lattice with double-well sites, are considered. Pseudospin representation for an effective Hamiltonian is derived. The system in equilibrium displays two phases, ordered and disordered. The second-order…
Phase change materials are exploited in several enabling technologies such as storage class memories, neuromorphic devices and memories embedded in microcontrollers. A key functional property for these applications is the fast crystal…
Experimental studies of the thermal denaturation of DNA yield a strong indication that the transition is first order. This transition has been theoretically studied since the early sixties, mostly within an approach in which the microscopic…
Studying the crystallization process of silicon is a challenging task since empirical potentials are not able to reproduce well the properties of both semiconducting solid and metallic liquid. On the other hand, nucleation is a rare event…
Lipid structures exhibit complex and highly dynamic lateral structure; and changes in lipid density and fluidity are believed to play an essential role in membrane targeting and function. The dynamic structure of liquids on the molecular…
Linearly-sloped or `ramp' potentials belong to a class of core-softened models which possess a liquid-liquid critical point (LLCP) in addition to the usual liquid-gas critical point. Furthermore they exhibit thermodynamic anomalies in the…
Crystallization of proteins, specifically proteins of medical relevance, is performed for various reasons such as to understand the protein structure and to design therapies. Obtaining kinetic constants in rate laws for nucleation and…
We systematically study the relationship between equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase diagrams of a system of short-ranged attractive colloids. Using Monte Carlo and Brownian dynamics simulations we find a window of enhanced…
Phase separation of sequence-disordered liquid crystalline polymers, a promising class of technological and biological relevance, is studied by field theory, and thermodynamic mechanisms responsible for orientational ordering observed in…
We consider a strongly nonlinear PDE system describing solid-solid phase transitions in shape memory alloys. The system accounts for the evolution of an order parameter (related to different symmetries of the crystal lattice in the phase…
Spatial distributions are presented that quantitatively capture how polymer properties (e.g., segment alignment, density, and potential energy) vary with distance from nascent polymer crystals (nuclei) in prototypical polyethylene melts. It…
We present a kinetic model of crystal growth of polymers of finite molecular weight. Experiments help to classify polymer crystallization broadly into two kinetic regimes. One is observed in melts or in high molar mass polymer solutions and…
The crystallisation of carbon from the melt under extreme conditions is highly relevant to earth and planetary science, materials manufacturing, and nuclear fusion research. The thermodynamic conditions near the graphite-diamond-liquid…