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Domain coarsening in electroconvection
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-4575, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|June 21, 2001
Summary
Domain growth in electroconvection was experimentally measured. Domain size scaling showed different exponents (t(1/5) and t(1/4)) depending on the measurement method, suggesting complex growth dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Complex Systems
- Pattern Formation
Background:
- Electroconvection involves the formation of regular patterns from irregular states driven by electric fields.
- Understanding domain growth dynamics is crucial for characterizing pattern evolution in various physical systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate the late-time growth of regular domains in electroconvection.
- To compare different measurement techniques for quantifying domain size and growth rates.
- To analyze the anisotropy of domain growth.
Main Methods:
- Experimental measurements of domain growth in electroconvection.
- Utilizing structure factor and domain wall length for isotropic size measurements.
- Analysis of the distribution of local wave numbers.
- Measurement of domain anisotropy.
Main Results:
- Domain growth is consistent with a power-law scaling of size with time, t(n).
- Structure factor measurements indicate a growth exponent of 1/5 (t(1/5)).
- Domain wall length measurements suggest a growth exponent of 1/4 (t(1/4)).
- The distribution of local wave numbers is largely independent of domain size.
Conclusions:
- Discrepancies in measured growth exponents highlight the complexity of electroconvection domain growth.
- The independence of local wave numbers from domain size may contribute to the observed scaling differences.
- Anisotropy measurements provide further insight into the directional characteristics of domain evolution.