Self-Assembling Chains, Rings and Droplets in Dipolar Granular Fluids
Abstract
We visualize the distinct phases of magnetized steel particles themalized by vibrations. A transition from a gas to clustered phase is observed as the granular temperature, is slowly decreased. Below the gas-cluster transition, structures spontaneously self-assemble and grow as the surrounding free particles are depleted to a saturation value determined by the temperature and volume fraction. Initially, these clusters are spatially compact, but grow linearly in time to form large extended droplets. If the system is quenched to low temperatures, a meta-stable network of connected chains is found. These results are consistent with both a classical nucleation process, and recent theories of entropic networks of dipolar hard spheres.Keywords
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