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An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
A hydrodynamic analog of Friedel oscillations
Pedro J Sáenz1,2, Tudor Cristea-Platon2, John W M Bush2
1Department of Mathematics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Abstract:
We present a macroscopic analog of an open quantum system, achieved with a classical pilot-wave system. Friedel oscillations are the angstrom-scale statistical signature of an impurity on a metal surface, concentric circular modulations in the probability density function of the surrounding electron sea. We consider a millimetric drop, propelled by its own wave field along the surface of a vibrating liquid bath, interacting with a submerged circular well. An ensemble of drop trajectories displays a statistical signature in the vicinity of the well that is strikingly similar to Friedel oscillations. The droplet trajectories reveal the dynamical roots of the emergent statistics. Our study elucidates a new mechanism for emergent quantum-like statistics in pilot-wave hydrodynamics and so suggests new directions for the nascent field of hydrodynamic quantum analogs.
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