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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 29, 2026

$Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene$

Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene

Published on: August 22, 2017

Diffusion in Coulomb crystals.

J Hughto¹, A S Schneider, C J Horowitz

¹Department of Physics and Nuclear Theory Center, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA. jhughto@indiana.edu

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|August 27, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Diffusion in Coulomb crystals, crucial for neutron star crusts, was simulated. Softer interactions yield higher diffusion constants, suggesting crystalline structures in stars.

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$On-Chip Crystallization and Large-Scale Serial Diffraction at Room Temperature$

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Area of Science:

Astrophysics
Condensed Matter Physics
Computational Physics

Background:

Diffusion in exotic stellar environments like neutron star crusts is key to understanding their structure.
Coulomb crystals are theoretical models for matter under extreme densities.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine diffusion constants (D) in Coulomb crystals using molecular dynamics simulations.
To compare diffusion in soft-core (1/r) versus hard-core (Lennard-Jones) interactions.
To investigate diffusion mechanisms in both perfect and imperfect crystalline, and amorphous systems.

Main Methods:

Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to model ion diffusion.
Simulations included body-centered-cubic lattices and rapidly quenched amorphous systems.
Coulomb parameters (Γ) were varied to study phase transitions and diffusion behavior.

Main Results:

Diffusion constants (D) for soft-core 1/r interactions were found to be potentially larger than for hard-core potentials.
Diffusion in perfect lattices occurs via ring-like ion exchanges without vacancies.
Imperfect crystals exhibit diffusion dominated by defect motion.
Amorphous systems rapidly quenched showed significant diffusion, leading to crystallization during simulations.

Conclusions:

Coulomb solids in neutron star crusts and white dwarf stars are likely crystalline, not amorphous.
The nature of inter-ionic interactions significantly impacts diffusion rates in these extreme environments.