Related papers: The pinning effect of dilute defects
We develop a model which predicts the contact angle hysteresis introduced by smooth micropatterned defects. The defects are modeled by a smooth function and the contact angle hysteresis is explained using a tangent line solution. When the…
We study a free boundary problem on the lattice whose scaling limit is a harmonic free boundary problem with a discontinuous Hamiltonian. We find an explicit formula for the Hamiltonian, prove the solutions are unique, and prove that the…
Finite element methods are used to study non-adhesive, frictionless contact between elastic solids with self-affine surfaces. We find that the total contact area rises linearly with load at small loads. The mean pressure in the contact…
We focus on the problem estimating a monotone trend function under additive and dependent noise. New point-wise confidence interval estimators under both short- and long-range dependent errors are introduced and studied. These intervals are…
We construct non-flat minimal capillary cones with bi-orthogonal symmetry groups for any dimension and contact angle. These cones interpolate between rescalings of a singular solution to the one-phase problem and the free-boundary cone…
The influence of finite system size on the free energy of a spherical particle floating at the surface of a sessile droplet is studied both analytically and numerically. In the special case that the contact angle at the substrate equals…
The density of extended topological defects created during symmetry-breaking phase transitions depends on the ratio between the correlation length in the symmetric phase near $T_c$ and the winding length of the defects as determined by the…
This paper studies the estimation and inference for the isotonic regression at the boundary point, an object that is particularly interesting and required in the analysis of monotone regression discontinuity designs. We show that the…
We study the motion of a grain boundary separating two otherwise stationary domains of hexagonal symmetry. Starting from an order parameter equation appropriate for hexagonal patterns, a multiple scale analysis leads to an analytical…
Lattice defects in crystalline materials create long-range elastic fields which can be modelled on the atomistic scale using an infinite system of discrete nonlinear force balance equations. Starting with these equations, this work…
For the contact of two finite portions of interacting rigid crystalline surfaces, we compute the dependence of the pinning energy barrier on the misfit angle and contact area. The resulting data are used to investigate the distribution of…
We study a class of semilinear free boundary problems in which admissible functions $u$ have a topological constraint, or spanning condition, on their 1-level set. This constraint forces $\{u=1\}$, which is the free boundary, to behave like…
Theoretical models describing specific adhesion of membranes predict (for certain parameters) a macroscopic phase separation of bonds into adhesion domains. We show that this behavior is fundamentally altered if the membrane is pinned…
Pinning and depinning of drops on an inclined heterogeneous substrate is studied as a function of the inclination and heterogeneity amplitude. Two types of heterogeneity are considered: a hydrophobic defect that blocks the droplet in front,…
Defect of compactness for non-compact imbeddings of Banach spaces can be expressed in the form of a profile decomposition. This paper extends the profile decomposition for Sobolev spaces proved by Solimini (AIHP 1995) to the non-reflexive…
We study obstacle problems governed by two distinct types of diffusion operators involving interacting free boundaries. We obtain a somewhat surprising coupling property, leading to a comprehensive analysis of the free boundary. More…
When a suspension freezes, a compacted particle layer builds up at the solidification front with noticeable implications on the freezing process. In a directional solidification experiment of monodispersed suspensions in thin samples, we…
As a simplified model of randomly pinned vortex lattices or charge-density waves, we study the random-field XY model on square ($d=2$) and simple cubic ($d=3$) lattices. We argue, and confirm in simulations, that the spacing between…
We consider the low-energy electronic properties of graphene cones in the presence of a global Fries-Kekul\'e Peierls distortion. Such cones occur in fullerenes as the geometric response to the disclination associated with pentagon rings.…
We study various aspects of codimension one defects in free scalar field theory, with particular emphasis on line defects in two-dimensions. These defects are generically non-conformal, but include conformal and topological defects as…