Dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in sliding nanotubes
arXiv:0903.1584 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.125502
Abstract
We discovered in simulations of sliding coaxial nanotubes an unanticipated example of dynamical symmetry breaking taking place at the nanoscale. While both nanotubes are perfectly left-right symmetric and nonchiral, a nonzero angular momentum of phonon origin appears spontaneously at a series of critical sliding velocities, in correspondence with large peaks of the sliding friction. The non-linear equations governing this phenomenon resemble the rotational instability of a forced string. However, several new elements, exquisitely "nano" appear here, with the crucial involvement of Umklapp and of sliding nanofriction.
To appear in PRL
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Cited by in corpus (6)
- Modeling friction: From nanoscale to mesoscale
- Tuning the thermal conductivity of graphene nanoribbons by edge passivation and isotope engineering: a molecular dynamics study
- Enhancement of Friction between Carbon Nanotubes: An Efficient Strategy to Strengthen Fibers
- Friction and Nonlinear Dynamics
- Interfacial Mechanical Behaviors in Carbon Nanotube Assemblies
- Rotation Symmetry Spontaneous Breaking of Edge States in Zigzag Carbon Nanotubes