arXiv subjects

Enrique Chacón

Publications and source records attributed to Enrique Chacón.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Dynamics and rupture of doped Motility Induced Phase Peparation

Adding a small amount of passive (Brownian) particles to a two-dimensional dense suspension of repulsive active Brownian particles does not affect the appearance of a motility-induced phase separation into a dense and a dilute phase, caused by the persistence of the active particles' direction of motion. Unlike a purely active suspension, the dense slab formed in an elongated system of a passive-active mixture may show, over long periods of time, a stable and well-defined propagation of the interfaces, because of the symmetry breaking caused by the depletion of passive particles on one side of the slab. We investigate these dynamical structures via average density profile calculations, revealing an asymmetry between the two interfaces, and enabling a kinetic analysis of the slab movement. The apparent movement of the dense slab is not a pure source/sink effect, nor a rigid displacement of all the particles, but a self-sustained combination of both effects. Furthermore, we analyse the specific fluctuations that produce, cancel and abruptly reverse the slab motion.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2017

Deconstructing temperature gradients across fluid interfaces: the structural origin of the thermal resistance of liquid-vapor interfaces

The interfacial thermal resistance determines condensation-evaporation processes and thermal transport across material-fluid interfaces. Despite its importance in transport processes, the interfacial structure responsible for the thermal resistance is still unknown. By combining non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations and interfacial analyses that remove the interfacial thermal fluctuations we show that the thermal resistance of liquid-vapor interfaces is connected to a low density fluid layer that is adsorbed at the liquid surface. This thermal resistance layer (TRL) defines the boundary where the thermal transport mechanism changes from that of gases (ballistic) to that characteristic of dense liquids, dominated by frequent particle collisions involving very short mean free paths. We show that the thermal conductance is proportional to the number of atoms adsorbed in the TRL, and hence we explain the structural origin of the thermal resistance in liquid-vapor interfaces.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2007

Diffusion at the liquid-vapor interface

Recently, the intrinsic sampling method has been developed in order to obtain, from molecular simulations, the intrinsic structure of the liquid-vapor interface that is presupposed in the classical capillary wave theory. Our purpose here is to study dynamical processes at the liquid-vapor interface, since this method allows tracking down and analyzing the movement of surface molecules, thus providing, with great accuracy, dynamical information on molecules that are "at" the interface. We present results for the coefficients for diffusion parallel and perpendicular to the liquid-vapor interface of the Lennard-Jones fluid, as well as other time and length parameters that characterize the diffusion process in this system. We also obtain statistics of permanence and residence time. The generality of our results is tested by varying the system size and the temperature; for the later case, an existing model for alkali metals is also considered. Our main conclusion is that, even if diffusion coefficients can still be computed, the turnover processes, by which molecules enter and leave the intrinsic surface, are as important as diffusion. For example, the typical time required for a molecule to traverse a molecular diameter is very similar to its residence time at the surface.

cond-mat.soft↗