M. Wilkinson and B. Mehlig 2005 Europhys. Lett. 71 186 doi:10.1209/epl/i2004-10532-7
M. Wilkinson1 and B. Mehlig2
Show affiliationsNetworks of caustics can occur in the distribution of particles suspended in a randomly moving gas. These can facilitate coagulation of particles by bringing them into close proximity, even in cases where the trajectories do not coalesce. The evolution of these caustic patterns depends upon the Lyapunov exponents λ1, λ2 of the suspended particles, as well as the rate J at which particles encounter caustics. We develop a theory determining the quantities J, λ1, λ2 from the statistical properties of the gas flow, in the limit of short correlation times.
05.40.-a Fluctuation phenomena, random processes, noise, and Brownian motion
Issue 2 (July 2005)
Received 29 October 2004, accepted for publication 12 May 2005, in final form 12 May 2005
Published 10 June 2005
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M. Wilkinson and B. Mehlig 2005 Europhys. Lett. 71 186