Columnar Structures of Spheres: Fundamentals and Applications

ISBN-13: 9789814669481 / Angielski / Twarda / 2023 / 300 str.

Ho-Kei Chan

Opis

Dense packings of identical hard spheres inside a cylindrical tube mimic the periodic structures of a variety of columnar systems such as nanotube-confined fullerenes and colloidal crystal wires. A rich variety of corresponding densest possible structures, many of which are helical (including the well-known double helix), have been predicted from the computational approach of simulated annealing. This book presents a comprehensive description of a recently published practical method of sequential deposition for constructing and simulating all those densest possible structures as well as some novel helical structures, where the method is new and has been covered by a number of news media including ScienceNow, PhysOrg, and Le Monde. The monograph serves as a step-by-step guide for scientists, engineers, architects, and artists who would like to build or simulate those aesthetically beautiful structures in their own fields of expertise.

Recenzje

"The study of quasi-one-dimensional systems has undergone a renaissance of sort over the last decade. Novel computational and analytical tools have been developed and new soft-matter experimental systems have been investigated to enrich these findings. This book collates and reworks a series of reprints by the two authors and their coworkers that capture some of the most important advances in that field. The clear pedagogical effort of this book, supported by beautiful figures, is sure to stimulate further advances in this area."

~Prof. Patrick Charbonneau, Duke University, USA

"This monograph contains the joint research efforts of Winkelmann, Chan, and some of their colleagues on the packing problems of quasi-one-dimensional columnar structures. Based on the results from multiple numerical techniques, analytical calculations, and carefully designed experiments, some of the new advances in this field are beautifully presented. The materials are laid out in a very accessible and appealing way, which nonetheless does not diminish its scientific depth and value."

~Prof. Yujie Wang, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China

"This is the very first book addressing the topic of columnar packings of spheres, i.e., arrangements of spheres confined within a narrow cylindrical geometry. Using a comprehensive language, it encompasses the fundamentals of the problem with its applications in disciplines as diverse as botany and nanoscience."

~Prof. Iker Zuriguel, University of Navarra, Spain

"Winkelmann and Chan have thoroughly explained and beautifully illustrated the essence of packings in cylindrical confinement. Scientists, engineers, and artists alike will find this monograph fascinating, whether for the fundamentals of packing science or the elegance of aesthetic packing structures."

~Prof. Zexin Zhang, Soochow University, China

Spis treści

1. An Introduction to Packing Problems 2. An Introduction to Columnar Structures 3. Models and Concepts for Columnar Structures 4. Packing by Sequential Deposition 5. Soft-Sphere Packings in Cylinders 6. Rotational Columnar Structures of Soft Spheres 7. Hard-Sphere Chains in a Cylindrical Harmonic Potential 8. Summary and Outlook Appendix A: Tabulated Hard-Sphere Results Appendix B: Minimization Routines Appendix C: Energies of (l,l,0) Structures