Numerical simulation of two-dimensional snowflake growth

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Abstract
We develop an efficient numerical scheme for integrating the equations of two-dimensional dendritic growth in the thermal-diffusion-limiting region. We use a Green's function representation to recast the problem as an essentially one-dimensional integro-differential equation which is solved numerically. We find that anisotropic surface tension is required to produce the stable tip behavior and repeated sidebranching of snowflakelike shapes.