Related papers: Non-classical nucleation pathways in stacking-diso…
We investigate experimentally and numerically the defect configurations emerging when a cholesteric liquid crystal is confined to a spherical shell. We uncover a rich scenario of defect configurations, some of them non-existent in nematic…
Classical hard spheres crystallize at equilibrium at high enough density. Crystals made up of stackings of 2-dimensional hexagonal close-packed layers (e.g. fcc, hcp, etc.) differ in entropy by only about $10^{-3}k_B$ per sphere (all…
As a model for a suspension of hard-sphere like colloidal particles where small nonadsorbing dissolved polymers create a depletion attraction, we introduce an effective colloid-colloid potential closely related to the Asakura-Oosawa model…
We analyze a new mechanism for the cosmological QCD first-order phase transition: inhomogeneous nucleation. The primordial temperature fluctuations are larger than the tiny temperature interval, in which bubbles would form in the standard…
A mechanism is proposed for initial stage of instability development that can induce the fragmentation of nuclear matter, arising as a result of collisions of non-relativistic heavy nuclei. Collision of heavy nuclei is simulated as a…
Nucleation on top of two-dimensional islands with step edge barriers is investigated using scaling arguments. The nucleation rate is expressed in terms of three basic time scales: The time interval between deposition events, the residence…
Understanding the mechanism of nucleation of the stable phase inside the metastable parent phase during a first order phase transition has been a subject of outstanding interest in natural science. The problem becomes even more challenging…
We investigate the formation of cluster crystals with multiply occupied lattice sites on a spherical surface in systems of ultra-soft particles interacting via repulsive, bounded pair potentials. Not all interactions of this kind lead to…
We investigate a new mechanism for the cosmological QCD phase transition: inhomogeneous nucleation. The primordial temperature fluctuations, measured to be $\delta T/T \sim 10^{-5}$, are larger than the tiny temperature interval, in which…
The barriers standing against the formation of superheavy elements and their consecutive $\alpha$ decay have been determined in the quasimolecular shape path within a Generalized Liquid Drop Model including the proximity effects between…
We find an order-disorder transition from crystals to disordered crystals for static packings of frictionless spheres. While the geometric indicators are mostly blind to the transition, disordered crystals already exhibit properties apart…
The nucleation kinetics of the rotator phase in hard cuboctahedra, truncated octahedra, and rhombic dodecahedra is simulated via a combination of Forward Flux Sampling and Umbrella Sampling. For comparable degree of supersaturation, the…
The initial-state geometry in relativistic heavy-ion collisions provides a novel probe to nuclear cluster structure. For $^{20}$Ne, a novel approach is proposed to distinguish between the cluster configurations (5$\alpha$ versus $\alpha +…
We study a quasi-two-dimensional macroscopic system of magnetic spherical particles settled on a shallow concave dish under a temporally oscillating magnetic field. The system reaches a stationary state where the energy losses from…
Interest in high-entropy inorganic compounds originates from their ability to stabilize cations and anions in local environments that rarely occur at standard temperature and pressure. This leads to new crystalline phases in many-cation…
It is a well-known fact that a cluster of nucleons can be formed in the interior of an atomic nucleus, and such clusters may occupy molecular-like orbitals, showing characteristics similar to normal molecules consisting of atoms. Chemical…
Clustering plays an important role in the structure of nuclei, especially for light nuclei in the $p$-shell. In nuclear cluster models these degrees of freedom are introduced explicitly. In the Resonating Group Method or in the Generator…
Phase separation, i.e., the coexistence of two different phases, is observed in many systems away from the coexistence curve of a first-order transition, leading to a stable heterogeneous phase or region. Examples include various quantum…
We discuss the structure of the equation of motion that governs nucleation processes at first order phase transitions. From the underlying microscopic dynamics of a nucleating system, we derive by means of a non-equilibrium projection…
It has long been assumed the Earth's solid inner core started to grow when molten iron cooled to its melting point. However, the nucleation mechanism, which is a necessary step of crystallization, has not been well understood. Recent…