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Updated: Nov 17, 2025

Creating Two-Dimensional Patterned Substrates for Protein and Cell Confinement
Published on: September 6, 2011
Nonequilibrium pattern formation in circularly confined two-dimensional systems with competing interactions
1Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
We numerically investigate the nonequilibrium behaviors of classic particles with competing interactions confined in a two-dimensional logarithmic trap. We reveal a quench-induced surprising dynamics exhibiting rich dynamic patterns depending upon confinement strength and trap size, which is attributed to the time-dependent competition between interparticle repulsions and attractions under a circular confinement. Moreover, in the collectively diffusive motions of the particles, we find that the emergence of dynamic structure transformation coincides with a diffusive mode transition from superdiffusion to subdiffusion. These findings are likely useful in understanding the pattern selection and evolution in various chemical and biological systems in addition to modulated systems, and add a new route to tailoring the morphology of pattern-forming systems.
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