Related papers: Understanding the complex patterns of snow crystal…
This monograph reviews our current understanding of the physical dynamics of ice crystal growth, focusing on the spontaneous formation of complex structures from water vapor (called snow crystals) as a function of temperature,…
We describe laboratory-grown snow crystals that exhibit a triangular, plate-like morphology, and we show that the occurrence of these crystals is much more frequent than one would expect from random growth perturbations of the more-typical…
We review several aspects of aerodynamics that affect the growth, morphology, and symmetry of snow crystals. We derive quantitative estimates for aerodynamical forces that orient falling snow crystals, estimate how air flow around snow…
We describe a comprehensive model for the formation and morphological development of atmospheric ice crystals growing from water vapor, also known as snow crystals. Our model derives in part from empirical measurements of the intrinsic ice…
Aggregation of ice crystals is a key process governing precipitation. Individual ice crystals exhibit considerable diversity of shape, and a wide range of physical processes could influence their aggregation; despite this we show that a…
We investigate about the possibility of knowing the thermal history of each snow crystal through the analysis of its individual habitus. Supposition, based on experimental observations, that prevailing growth mechanisms of basal and…
Complexity of patterns is a key information for human brain to differ objects of about the same size and shape. Like other innate human senses, the complexity perception cannot be easily quantified. We propose a transparent and universal…
Facetted growth of snow crystals leads to a rich diversity of forms, and exhibits a remarkable sixfold symmetry. Snow crystal structures result from diffusion limited crystal growth in the presence of anisotropic surface energy and…
We examine the molecular dynamics of crystal growth in the presence of surface melting and surface impurities, and from this propose a detailed microscopic model for the growth of ice from the vapor phase. Our model naturally accounts for…
Complex macroscopic behaviour can arise in many-body systems with only very simple elements as a consequence of the combination of competition and inhomogeneity. This paper attempts to illustrate how statistical physics has driven this…
Recent advances in classical density functional theory are combined with stochastic process theory and rare event techniques to formulate a theoretical description of nucleation, including crystallization, that can predict nonclassical…
Except for crystalline or random structures, an agreed definition of complexity for intermediate and hence interesting cases does not exist. We fill this gap with a notion of complexity that characterises shapes formed by any finite number…
According to classical nucleation theory, a crystal grows from a small nucleus that already bears the symmetry of its end phase - but experiments with colloids now reveal that, from an amorphous precursor, crystallites with different…
An increasing variety of crystal structures has been observed in soft condensed matter over the past two decades, surpassing most expectations for the diversity of arrangements accessible through classical driving forces. Here, we survey…
Snowflakes play a crucial role in weather and climate. A significant portion of precipitation that reaches the surface originates as ice, even when it ultimately falls as rain. Contrary to the popular image of symmetric, dendritic crystals,…
I describe a new approach to the classification of snow crystal morphologies that focuses on the most common growth behaviors that appear in normal air under conditions of constant applied temperature and water-vapor supersaturation. The…
Crystal faceting can emerge via two broad physical mechanisms: anisotropic attachment kinetics on growing crystals and anisotropic surface energies on near-equilibrium crystals. For the case of the ice/vapor system, anisotropic attachment…
We look ahead from the frontiers of research on ice dynamics in its broadest sense; on the structures of ice, the patterns or morphologies it may assume, and the physical and chemical processes in which it is involved. We highlight open…
This paper presents a matrix of 206 snow crystal growth observations as a function of temperature and water vapor supersaturation in air, each illustrating the morphology and size of a crystal forming on the tip of an isolated c-axis ice…
I describe a semi-empirical molecular model of the surface attachment kinetics governing ice crystal growth from water vapor as a function of temperature, supersaturation, and crystal mesostructure. An important new hypothesis in this model…