Universality of cluster dynamics

Abstract

We have studied the kinetics of cluster formation for dynamical systems of dimensions up to n=8 interacting through elastic collisions or coalescence. These systems could serve as possible models for gas kinetics, polymerization, and self-assembly. In the case of elastic collisions, we found that the cluster size probability distribution undergoes a phase transition at a critical time which can be predicted from the average time between collisions. This enables forecasting of rare events based on limited statistical sampling of the collision dynamics over short time windows. The analysis was extended to L(p)-normed spaces (p=1,…,∞) to allow for some amount of interpenetration or volume exclusion. The results for the elastic collisions are consistent with previously published low-dimensional results in that a power law is observed for the empirical cluster size distribution at the critical time. We found that the same power law also exists for all dimensions n=2,…,8 , two-dimensional L(p) norms, and even for coalescing collisions in two dimensions. This broad universality in behavior may be indicative of a more fundamental process governing the growth of clusters.