Kinetics of fluid demixing in complex plasmas: Domain growth analysis using Minkowski tensors

A molecular dynamics simulation of the demixing process of a binary complex plasma is analyzed and the role of distinct interaction potentials is discussed by using morphological Minkowski tensor analysis of the minority phase domain growth in a demixing simulated binary complex plasma. These Minkowski tensor methods are compared with previous results that utilized a power spectrum method based on the time-dependent average structure factor. It is shown that the Minkowski tensor methods are superior to the previously used power-spectrum method in the sense of higher sensitivity to changes in domain size. By analysis of the slope of the temporal evolution of Minkowski tensor measures, qualitative differences between the case of particle interaction with a single length scale compared to particle interactions with two different length scales (dominating long-range interaction) are revealed. After proper scaling the graphs for the two length scale scenarios coincide, pointing toward universal behavior. The qualitative difference in demixing scenarios is evidenced by distinct demixing behavior: in the long-range dominated cases demixing occurs in two stages. At first, neighboring particles agglomerate, then domains start to merge in cascades. However, in the case of only one interaction length scale only agglomeration but no merging of domains can be observed. Thus, Minkowski tensor analysis is likely to become a useful tool for further investigation of this (and other) demixing processes. It is capable to reveal (nonlinear) local topological properties, probing deeper than (linear) global power-spectrum analysis, however, still providing easily interpretable results founded on a solid mathematical framework.