Fluctuations of an Atomic Ledge Bordering a Crystalline Facet
arXiv:cond-mat/0303162 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.69.035102
Abstract
When a high symmetry facet joins the rounded part of a crystal, the step line density vanishes as sqrt(r) with r denoting the distance from the facet edge. This means that the ledge bordering the facet has a lot of space to meander as caused by thermal activation. We investigate the statistical properties of the border ledge fluctuations. In the scaling regime they turn out to be non-Gaussian and related to the edge statistics of GUE multi-matrix models.
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