Dynamics and topological aspects of a reconstructed two-dimensional foam time series using Potts Model on a pinned lattice

Abstract

We discuss a method to reconstruct an approximate two-dimensional foam structure from an incomplete image using the extended Potts Model on a pinned lattice. The initial information consists of the positions of the vertices only. We locate the centers of the bubbles using the Euclidean distance-map construction and assign at each vertex position a continuous pinning field with a potential falling off as 1/ r. We nucleate a bubble at each center using the extended Potts Model and let the structure evolve under the constraint of scaled target areas until the bubbles contact each other. The target area constraint and pinning centers prevent further coarsening. We then turn the area constraint off and let the edges relax to a minimum energy configuration. The result is a reconstructed structure very close to the simulation. We repeated this procedure for various stages of the coarsening of the same simulated foam and investigated the simulation and reconstruction dynamics, topology and area distribution, finding that they agreed to good accuracy.