Comments on the Radial Distribution Functions and Structure Factors of Aggregates: Fractal and Non-Fractal Approaches

TL;DR

This paper clarifies the differences in calculating Radial Distribution Functions and Structure Factors for aggregates, highlighting distinct approaches for interaction potentials and fractal properties, aimed at physics students.

Contribution

It details the contrasting methods used to compute RDF and SF for aggregates, emphasizing their different applications and interpretations.

Findings

Different approaches are used for RDF and SF calculations.

The methods are applied to distinguish interaction potentials from fractal properties.

Educational clarification for physics students on aggregate analysis.

Abstract

The definitions and applications of Radial Distribution Function (RDF) and Structure Factor (SF) to study properties of aggregate are found in many papers and books. The approach adopted to calculate the RDF and the SF to determine the interaction potential between particles of an aggregate is very different from that adopted to obtain their fractal properties. The difference between the two approaches will be shown in details here. This article was written to graduate and postgraduate students of Physics