Vanishing in fractal space: Thermal melting and hydrodynamic collapse

Abstract

Fractals emerge everywhere in nature, exhibiting intricate geometric complexities through the self-organizing patterns that span across multiple scales. Here, we investigate beyond steady-states the interplay between this geometry and the vanishing dynamics, through phase-transitional thermal melting and hydrodynamic void collapse, within fractional continuous models. We present general analytical expressions for estimating vanishing times with their applicability contingent on the fractality of space. We apply our findings on the fractal environments crucial for plant growth: natural soils. We focus on the transport phenomenon of cavity shrinkage in incompressible fluid, conducting a numerical study beyond the inviscid limit. We reveal how a minimal collapsing time can emerge through a non-trivial coupling between the fluid viscosity and the surface fractal dimension.