From ageing to immortality: cluster growth in stirred colloidal solutions

Abstract

This model describes cluster aggregation in a stirred colloidal solution Interacting clusters compete for growth in this 'winner-takes-all' model; for finite assemblies, the largest cluster always wins, i.e. there is a uniform sediment. In mean-field, the model exhibits glassy dynamics, with two well-separated time scales, corresponding to individual and collective behaviour; the survival probability of a cluster eventually falls off according to a universal law $(\ln t{)}^{-1/2}$. In finite dimensions, the glassiness is enhanced: the dynamics manifests both {\it ageing} and metastability, where pattern formation is manifested in each metastable state by a fraction of {\it immortal} clusters.

4 pages, 3 figures