Mathematics and Materials

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Mathematics and Materials IAS/PARK CITY MATHEMATICS SERIES Volume 23 Mathematics and Materials Mark J. Bowick David Kinderlehrer Govind Menon Charles Radin Editors American Mathematical Society Institute for Advanced Study Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Mathematics and Materials IAS/PARK CITY MATHEMATICS SERIES Volume 23 Mathematics and Materials Mark J. Bowick David Kinderlehrer Govind Menon Charles Radin Editors American Mathematical Society Institute for Advanced Study Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Rafe Mazzeo, Series Editor Mark J. Bowick, David Kinderlehrer, Govind Menon, and Charles Radin, Volume Editors. IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute runs mathematics education programs that bring together high school mathematics teachers, researchers in mathematics and mathematics education, undergraduate mathematics faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates to participate in distinct but overlapping programs of research and education. This volume contains the lecture notes from the Graduate Summer School program 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 82B05, 35Q70, 82B26, 74N05, 51P05, 52C17, 52C23. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Bowick, Mark J., editor. | Kinderlehrer, David, editor. | Menon, Govind, 1973– editor. | Radin, Charles, 1945– editor. | Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.) | Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Title: Mathematics and materials / Mark J. Bowick, David Kinderlehrer, Govind Menon, Charles Radin, editors. Description: [Providence] : American Mathematical Society, [2017] | Series: IAS/Park City math- ematics series ; volume 23 | “Institute for Advanced Study.” | “Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.” | “This volume contains lectures presented at the Park City summer school on Mathematics and Materials in July 2014.” – Introduction. | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2016030010 | ISBN 9781470429195 (alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Statistical mechanics–Congresses. | Materials science–Congresses. | AMS: Sta- tistical mechanics, structure of matter – Equilibrium statistical mechanics – Classical equilibrium statistical mechanics (general). msc | Partial differential equations – Equations of mathematical physics and other areas of application – PDEs in connection with mechanics of particles and sys- tems. msc | Statistical mechanics, structure of matter – Equilibrium statistical mechanics – Phase transitions (general). msc | Mechanics of deformable solids – Phase transformations in solids – Crystals. msc | Geometry – Geometry and physics (should also be assigned at least one other classification number from Sections 70–86) – Geometry and physics (should also be assigned at least one other classification number from Sections 70–86). msc | Convex and discrete geometry – Discrete geometry – Packing and covering in n dimensions. msc | Convex and discrete geometry – Discrete geometry – Quasicrystals, aperiodic tilings. msc Classification: LCC QC174.7 .M38 2017 | DDC 530.13–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn. loc.gov/2016030010 Copying and reprinting. Individual readers of this publication, and nonprofit libraries acting for them, are permitted to make fair use of the material, such as to copy select pages for use in teaching or research. Permission is granted to quote brief passages from this publication in reviews, provided the customary acknowledgment of the source is given. Republication, systematic copying, or multiple reproduction of any material in this publication is permitted only under license from the American Mathematical Society. Permissions to reuse portions of AMS publication content are handled by Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. For more information, please visit: http://www.ams.org/rightslink. Send requests for translation rights and licensed reprints to [email protected]. Excluded from these provisions is material for which the author holds copyright. In such cases, requests for permission to reuse or reprint material should be addressed directly to the author(s). Copyright ownership is indicated on the copyright page, or on the lower right-hand corner of the first page of each article within proceedings volumes. c 2017 by the American Mathematical Society. All rights reserved. The American Mathematical Society retains all rights except those granted to the United States Government. Printed in the United States of America. ∞ The paper used in this book is acid-free and falls within the guidelines established to ensure permanence and durability. Visit the AMS home page at http://www.ams.org/ 10987654321 222120191817 Contents Preface ix Introduction xi Veit Elser Three Lectures on Statistical Mechanics 1 Lecture 1. Mechanical foundations 3 Lecture 2. Temperature and entropy 15 Lecture 3. Macroscopic order 25 Bibliography 41 Henry Cohn Packing, Coding, and Ground States 43 Preface 45 Lecture 1. Sphere packing 47 1. Introduction 47 2. Motivation 48 3. Phenomena 50 4. Constructions 52 5. Difficulty of sphere packing 54 6. Finding dense packings 55 7. Computational problems 57 Lecture 2. Symmetry and ground states 59 1. Introduction 59 2. Potential energy minimization 60 3. Families and universal optimality 61 4. Optimality of simplices 65 Lecture 3. Interlude: Spherical harmonics 69 1. Fourier series 69 2. Fourier series on a torus 71 3. Spherical harmonics 73 Lecture 4. Energy and packing bounds on spheres 77 1. Introduction 77 2. Linear programming bounds 79 3. Applying linear programming bounds 81 v vi CONTENTS 4. Spherical codes and the kissing problem 82 5. Ultraspherical polynomials 83 Lecture 5. Packing bounds in Euclidean space 89 1. Introduction 89 2. Poisson summation 91 3. Linear programming bounds 92 4. Optimization and conjectures 94 Bibliography 99 Alpha A. Lee and Daan Frenkel Entropy, Probability and Packing 103 Introduction 105 Lecture 1. Introduction to thermodynamics and statistical physics 107 1. Classical equilibrium thermodynamics 107 2. Statistical physics of entropy 113 3. From entropy to thermodynamic ensembles 119 4. Exercises 123 Lecture 2. Thermodynamics of phase transitions 125 1. Thermodynamics of phase equilibrium 125 2. Thermodynamic integration 126 3. The chemical potential and Widom particle insertion 130 4. Exercises 133 Lecture 3. Order from disorder: Entropic phase transitions 135 1. Hard-sphere freezing 136 2. Role of geometry: The isotropic-nematic transition 140 3. Depletion interaction and the entropy of the medium 145 4. Attractive forces and the liquid phase 151 5. Exercises 154 Lecture 4. Granular entropy 157 1. Computing the entropy 158 2. Is this “entropy” physical? 160 3. The Gibbs paradox 161 Bibliography 165 MichaelP.Brenner Ideas about Self Assembly 167 Introduction 169 Lecture 1. Self assembly: Introduction 171 1. What is self-assembly 171 2. Statistical mechanical preliminaries 172 CONTENTS vii Lecture 2. Self assembly with identical components 175 1. Introduction 175 2. The (homogeneous) polymer problem 176 3. Cluster statistical mechanics 179 Lecture 3. Heterogeneous self assembly 187 1. Heteropolymer problem 187 2. The yield catastrophe 189 3. Colloidal assembly 191 Lecture 4. Nucleation theory and multifarious assembly mixtures 195 1. Nucleation theory 195 2. Magic soup 196 Bibliography 199 P. Palffy-Muhoray, M. Pevnyi, E. Virga, and X. Zheng The Effects of Particle Shape in Orientationally Ordered Soft Materials 201 Introduction 203 Lecture 1. Soft condensed matter and orientational order 205 1. Soft condensed matter 205 2. Position and orientation 206 3. Orientational order parameters 210 Lecture 2. The free energy 213 1. Helmholtz free energy 214 2. Trial free energy 215 3. Configurational partition function 215 4. Pairwise interactions 215 5. Soft and hard potentials 216 6. Mean-field free energy 217 7. Density functional theory 219 Lecture 3. Particle shape and attractive interactions 227 1. Polarizability of a simple atom 228 2. Dispersion interaction 230 3. Polarizability of non-spherical particles 231 Lecture 4. Particle shape and repulsive interactions 239 1. Onsager theory 240 2. Excluded volume for ellipsoids 241 3. Phase separation 242 4. Minimum excluded volume of convex shapes 244 5. Systems of hard polyhedra 247 viii CONTENTS Summary 249 Bibliography 251 Roman Koteck´y Statistical Mechanics and Nonlinear Elasticity 255 Introduction 257 Lecture 1. Statistical mechanics 259 Statistical mechanics of interacting particles 259 Lattice models of nonlinear elasticity 261 Ising model 263 Lecture 2. Phase transitions 267 Existence of the free energy 267 Concavity of the free energy 268 Peierls argument 269 Lecture 3. Expansions 275 The high temperature expansion 275 Intermezzo (cluster expansions) 277 Proof of cluster expansion theorem 280 Lecture 4. Gradient models of random surface 283 Quadratic potential 283 Convex potentials 285 Non-convex potentials 286 Lecture 5. Nonlinear elasticity 291 Free energy 291 Macroscopic behaviour from microscopic model 293 Main ingredients of the proof of quasiconvexity of W 294 Bibliography 297 Peter Bella, Arianna Giunti, and Felix Otto Quantitative Stochastic Homogenization: Local Control of Homogenization Error through Corrector 299 1. A brief overview of stochastic homogenization, and a common vision for quenched and thermal noise 301 2. Precise setting and motivation for this work 304 3. Main results 307 4. Proofs 309 Bibliography 326 Preface The IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI) was founded in 1991 as part of the “Regional Geometry Institute” initiative of the National
Recommended publications
  • Abstracts of Talks in Parallel Sessions
    CCP2014 XXVI IUPAP Conference on Computational Physics August 11-14; Boston, USA Abstracts / Parallel Sessions CONTENTS Monday, Parallel Sessions 1, 13:30-15:15 Materials Science and Nanoscience 1 ................................................................................................... 3 Soft Matter and Biological Physics 1 ..................................................................................................... 6 Fluid Dynamics 1 ................................................................................................................................. 10 Quantum Many-Body Physics 1 .......................................................................................................... 14 Monday, Parallel Sessions 2, 15:45-17:30 Soft Matter and Biological Physics 2 ................................................................................................... 16 Statistical Physics 1: Networks ............................................................................................................ 18 Fluid Dynamics 2 ................................................................................................................................. 20 Novel Computing Paradigms 1 ............................................................................................................ 24 Tuesday, Parallel Sessions 1, 13:30-15:15 Soft Matter and Biological Physics 3 ................................................................................................... 26 Statistical Physics 2: Jamming, Hard
    [Show full text]
  • Cond-Mat.Soft
    Spatial correlations of mobility and immobility in a glassforming Lennard-Jones liquid Claudio Donati1, Sharon C. Glotzer1, Peter H. Poole2, Walter Kob3, and Steven J. Plimpton4 1 Polymers Division and Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science, NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA 20899 2Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada 3 Institut f¨ur Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universit¨at, Staudinger Weg 7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany 4 Parallel Computational Sciences Department, Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM 87185-1111 (February 1, 2008) Using extensive molecular dynamics simulations of an equilibrium, glass-forming Lennard-Jones mixture, we characterize in detail the local atomic motions. We show that spatial correlations exist among particles undergoing extremely large (“mobile”) or extremely small (“immobile”) displace- ments over a suitably chosen time interval. The immobile particles form the cores of relatively compact clusters, while the mobile particles move cooperatively and form quasi-one-dimensional, string-like clusters. The strength and length scale of the correlations between mobile particles are found to grow strongly with decreasing temperature, and the mean cluster size appears to diverge at the mode-coupling critical temperature. We show that these correlations in the particle displace- ments are related to equilibrium fluctuations in the local potential energy and local composition. PACS numbers: 02.70.Ns, 61.20.Lc, 61.43.Fs I. INTRODUCTION ment over some time) to subsets of extreme mobility or immobility, and (2) to establish connections between this The bulk dynamical properties of many cold, dense “dynamical heterogeneity” and local structure. liquids differ dramatically from what might be expected This paper is organized as follows.
    [Show full text]
  • Istec Distinguished Lectures, Colorado State University, Istec
    Colorado State University’s Information Science and Technology Center (ISTeC) presents two lectures by Sharon Glotzer University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Physics ISTeC Distinguished Lecture in conjunction with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and Computer Science Department Seminar Series “All Hail the GPU: How the Video Game Industry is Transforming Molecular and Materials Simulation” Monday, May 3, 2010 Reception: 10:30 a.m., Computer Science Room CS305 Lecture: 11:00 – 12:00 noon Location: Computer Science 130 • Department of Chemistry Special Lecture sponsored by ISTeC “From Aristotle to Onsager: Packing and Assembling Tetrahedra” Monday, May3, 2010 Reception: 3:45 p.m. Chemistry Building Room B204 Lecture: 4:00 – 4:50 p.m. Location: Chemistry Building Room B202 ABSTRACTS “All Hail the GPU: How the Video Game Industry is Transforming Molecular and Materials Simulation” Graphics processors (GPUs) traditionally developed for video games are now accessible for use by scientific simulation codes. With speeds reaching 2 teraflop/s on a single chip, GPUs are far faster than today’s CPUs for highly data parallel problems. In this talk, we describe their emerging importance for molecular and materials simulation, what they can do, how they’re being used, and how you can learn to use them. We also discuss current trends, challenges, and recent initiatives in computational science and engineering research and education. “From Aristotle to Onsager: Packing and Assembling Tetrahedra” The packing of shapes has interested humankind for millennia. We investigate the packing of hard, regular tetrahedra and show that entropy alone can order them into thermodynamically stable structures both simple and unexpectedly complex.
    [Show full text]
  • Speaker and Panelist Bios
    Speaker and Panelist Bios Michael A. Meador Michael A. Meador is Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) and leads the NNCO's efforts to promote the goals of the National Nanotechnology Initiative in fostering cutting-edge nanotechnology R&D; establishing world-class testing, characterization and fabrication facilities; facilitating commercialization of nanotechnology-based products; and promoting the responsible development of nanotechnology. He is on detail from the NASA Glenn Research Center where, since 1983, he has been involved in planning, executing, and managing materials R&D including serving as the Chief of the Polymers Branch (1988 to 2011). From 2011 to 2014, he initiated and led a NASA/industry/university project to mature and demonstrate high payoff nanotechnologies for use in future NASA missions under the Space Technology Mission Directorate's Game Changing Development Program. Meador received the NASA Equal Opportunity Employment Medal (2002) for his efforts to increase participation of students and faculty from minority-serving institutions in NASA's materials R&D and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2014) in recognition of his proactive leadership of NASA nanotechnology R&D. Dr. Meador is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society, an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Clemson University, and serves on several advisory boards for university departments and institutes. He received a BA in Chemistry from Ithaca College and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Michigan State University. Lisa Friedersdorf Lisa Friedersdorf is Deputy Director of NNCO. She has been involved in nanotechnology for nearly twenty years, with a particular interest in advancing technology commercialization through university-industry-government collaboration.
    [Show full text]
  • 2016 Department Retreat Maumee Bay Lodge and Conference Center, Ohio September 30 – October 2 2016
    2016 Department Retreat Maumee Bay Lodge and Conference Center, Ohio September 30 – October 2 2016 Keynote Speakers: Sharon C. Glotzer, Ph.D. John W. Cahn Distinguished University Professor of Engineering, and Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering Scott E. Page, Ph.D. Leonid Hurwicz Collegiate Professor of Complex Systems, Political Science, and Economics Featured Events: Introduction of new students & post-doctoral fellows Scientific talks by faculty, posters and students State-of-the-Department address by Dr. Brian Athey, Department Chair Sharon Glotzer Sharon C. Glotzer is the John Werner Cahn Distinguished University Professor of Engineering and the Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. She received her B.S. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Ph.D. degree from Boston University, both in physics. Prior to joining the University of Michigan in 2001, she worked for eight years at the National Institute of Standards and Technology where she was co-founder and Director of the NIST Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science. Professor Glotzer’s research on computational assembly science and engineering aims toward predictive materials design of colloidal and soft matter, and is sponsored by the NSF, DOE, DOD and Simons Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • Hướng Dẫn Viết
    Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology 56 (5) (2018) 543-559 DOI: 10.15625/2525-2518/56/5/11156 Mini-Review ACCELERATED DISCOVERY OF NANOMATERIALS USING MOLECULAR SIMULATION Nguyen Dac Trung1, *, Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh1, Le Duy Minh1, Truong Xuan Hung2 1Institute of Mechanics, VAST, 264 Doi Can, Ba Dinh, Ha Noi 2Vietnam National Space Center, VAST, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Ha Noi *Email: [email protected] Received: 1 February 2018; Accepted for publication: 2 July 2018 Abstract. Next-generation nanotechnology demands new materials and devices that are highly efficient, multifunctional, cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The need to accelerate the discovery of new materials therefore becomes more pressing than ever. In this regard, among widely regarded fabrication techniques are self-assembly and directed assembly, which have attracted increasing interest as they are applicable to a wide range of materials ranging from liquid crystals to semiconductors to polymers and biomolecules. The fundamental challenges to these bottom up techniques are to design the assembling building blocks, to tailor their interactions and to engineering the assembly pathways towards desirable structures. We will demonstrate how molecular simulation, particularly Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo methods, has been a powerful tool for tackling these fundamental challenges. We will review through selected examples the insights from simulation that help explain the roles of the shape of the building blocks and their interactions in determining the morphology of the assembled structures. We will discuss testable predictions from simulation that serve to motivate future experimental studies. Aided by data mining techniques and computing capacities, the cooperative efforts between computational and experimental investigations open new horizons for accelerating the discovery of new materials and devices.
    [Show full text]
  • Polymers 1999 Programs and Accomplishments
    POLYMERS 1999 PROGRAMS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING LABORATORY NISTIR 6435 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE MATERIALS William M. Daley, Secretary TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE AND ADMINISTRATION Dr. Cheryl L. Shavers, Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology ENGINEERING NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY Raymond G. Kammer, LABORATORY Director T OF C EN OM M M T E R R A C P E E D POLYMERS U N A I C T I E R D E M ST A ATES OF 1999 PROGRAMS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Eric J. Amis, Chief Bruno M. Fanconi, Deputy NISTIR 6435 January 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................1 Recognizing Leadership in Measurement Science....................................................................3 Recognizing Leadership in Standards Development ...........................................................4 TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES ELECTRONIC PACKAGING, INTERCONNECTION AND ASSEMBLY PROGRAM Overview..............................................................................................................................5 Significant Accomplishments ..............................................................................................6 Characterization of Low-k Dielectric Porous Silica Thin Films .........................................7 Dielectric Properties of Thin Polymer Films and Composites ..........................................10
    [Show full text]
  • View Sourcebook
    Alpha Chi Sigma Sourcebook A Repository of Fraternity Knowledge for Reference and Education ACADEMIC YEAR {2021-2022} EDITION ALPHA CHI SIGMA Sourcebook {2021 - 2022} l 1 This Sourcebook is the property of: _________________________________________ ________________________________________ Full Name Chapter Name ___________________________________________________ Pledge Class ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Date of Pledge Ceremony Date of Initiation ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Master Alchemist Vice Master Alchemist ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Master of Ceremonies Reporter ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Recorder Treasurer ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Alumni Secretary Other Officer Members of My Pledge Class ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • Computational Materials Science and Chemistry: Accelerating Discovery and Innovation Through Simulation-Based Engineering and Science
    Report of the Department of Energy Workshop on Computational Materials Science and Chemistry for Innovation July 26–27, 2010 Cochairs George Crabtree, Argonne National Laboratory Sharon Glotzer, University of Michigan Bill McCurdy, University of California–Davis Jim Roberto, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Panel leads Materials for extreme conditions John Sarrao, Los Alamos National Laboratory Richard LeSar, Iowa State University Chemical reactions Andy McIlroy, Sandia National Laboratories Alex Bell, University of California–Berkeley Thin films, surfaces, and interfaces John Kieffer, University of Michigan Ray Bair, Argonne National Laboratory Self-assembly and soft matter Clare McCabe, Vanderbilt University Igor Aronson, Argonne National Laboratory Strongly correlated electron systems and complex materials: superconducting, ferroelectric, and magnetic materials Malcolm Stocks, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Warren Pickett, University of California–Davis Electron dynamics, excited states, and light-harvesting materials and processes Gus Scuseria, Rice University Mark Hybertsen, Brookhaven National Laboratory Separations and fluidic processes Peter Cummings, Vanderbilt University Bruce Garrett, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Computational Materials Science and Chemistry: Accelerating Discovery and Innovation through Simulation-Based Engineering and Science Executive Summary The urgent demand for new energy technologies has greatly exceeded the capabilities of today’s materials and chemical processes. To convert sunlight to fuel, efficiently
    [Show full text]
  • "Computer Simulations of Viscous Liquids and Aspherical Particles"
    Roskilde University Computer simulations of viscous liquids and aspherical particles Bøhling, Lasse Publication date: 2013 Document Version Early version, also known as pre-print Citation for published version (APA): Bøhling, L. (2013). Computer simulations of viscous liquids and aspherical particles. Roskilde Universitet. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain. • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 09. Oct. 2021 PhD Thesis Lasse Bøhling Computer Simulations of Viscous Liquids and Aspherical Particles a1 a2 Thesis Advisor: Thomas Schrøder Danish National Research Foundation Centre for Viscous Liquid Dynamics Glass and Time Roskilde University IMFUFA Department of Science, Systems and Models February 28, 2013 Abstract This Ph.D. thesis falls into two basic parts. Part I explores a class of liquids commonly referred to as Strongly Correlating Liquids. The central aim of the first part of the study is to establish a better understanding of these liquids through an investigation of their pair interaction potential.
    [Show full text]
  • The Hunt for Quasicrystals Sharon Glotzer Enjoys a Riveting Tale of Derring-Do in Materials Science
    COMMENT BOOKS & ARTS MATERIALS SCIENCE The hunt for quasicrystals Sharon Glotzer enjoys a riveting tale of derring-do in materials science. icture this. In Russia’s far east, a The Second Kind of Impossible: The Steinhardt’s story begins in Pasadena, motley crew of conspirators races Extraordinary Quest for a New Form of California, in 1985. Then on the faculty against time to solve a mystery hidden Matter at the University of Pennsylvania in Pfor billions of years. The enigma could link PAUL J. STEINHARDT Philadelphia, Steinhardt had given a talk at Simon & Schuster (2018) a speck of rock found in the dusty base- his undergraduate alma mater, the California ment of an Italian museum to the evolution Institute of Technology, where he explained , SIMON AND SCHUSTER of the Solar System. To solve it, a brilliant 1980s, but the interpretations proffered to physicist Richard Feynman, his former theoretical physicist must overcome impos- for them were not accepted by many in the professor, a theory that he had devised with sible odds, Kremlin agents, a vanished scientific community, bar physicists, for doctoral student Dov Levine. This predicted package, secret diaries and a trek across a some time. After all, they upset nearly two the possibility of quasi crystals, with sym- volcanic peninsula. centuries of scientific understanding about metries technically possible but extremely This is no Hollywood blockbuster: it is the structure of matter. French priest René- unlikely: the “second kind of impossible”. real-world scientific derring-do.
    [Show full text]
  • Growing Range of Correlated Motion in a Polymer Melt on Cooling Towards
    letters to nature analyte penetration into the porous silicon is important. The energy 9. Varakin, V. N., Lunchev, V. A. & Simonov, A. P. Ultraviolet-laser chemistry of adsorbed dimethyl- cadmium molecules. High En. Chem. 28, 406–411 (1994). for analyte release from the surface may be transferred from 10. Wang, S. L., Ledingham, K. W. D., Jia, W. J. & Singhal, R. P.Studies of silicon nitride (Si3N4) using laser silicon to the trapped analyte through vibrational pathways or as ablation mass spectrometry. Appl. Surf. Sci. 93, 205–210 (1996). 11. Posthumus, M. A., Kistemaker, P. G., Meuzelaar, H. L. C. & Ten Noever de Brauw, M. C. Laser a result of the rapid heating of porous silicon producing H2 (ref. 26) desorption–mass spectrometry of polar nonvolatile bio-organic molecules. Anal. Chem. 50, 985–991 that releases the analyte. Alternatively, as porous silicon absorbs (1978). hydrocarbons from air or while under vacuum27,28, rapid heating/ 12. Macfarlane, R. D. & Torgerson, D. F. Californium-252 plasma desorption mass spectroscopy. Science 191, 920–925 (1976). vaporization of trapped hydrocarbon contaminants or solvent 13. Siuzdak, G. in Mass Spectrometry for Biotechnology 162 (Academic, San Diego, 1996). molecules may augment the vaporization and ionization of the 14. Buriak, J. M. & Allen, M. J. Lewis acid mediated functionalization of porous silicon with substituted alkenes and alkynes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 120, 1339–1340 (1998). analyte embedded in the porous silicon. The observation of DIOS- 15. Cullis, A. G., Canham, L. T. & Calcott, P. D. J. The structural and luminescence properties of porous MS background ions (m=z , 100) at high laser intensities, consis- silicon.
    [Show full text]