The role of discrete-particle noise in the Ostwald ripening

TL;DR

This paper explores how discrete-particle noise influences Ostwald ripening, demonstrating that noise guides the system towards a classical scaling regime, with slow convergence and deviations from theoretical predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of particle noise effects in Ostwald ripening using Becker-Doering equations, Monte Carlo simulations, and numerical solutions.

Findings

Noise drives the system towards a classical scaling regime.

Convergence to the scaling solution is very slow.

Observed deviations from theoretical predictions of corrections to scaling.

Abstract

We investigate the role of discrete-particle noise in interface-controlled Ostwald ripening. We introduce the noise within the framework of the Becker-Doering equations, and employ both Monte Carlo simulations and direct numerical solution of these equations. We find that the noise drives the system towards a unique scaling regime describable by a limiting solution of a classical continuum theory due to Lifshitz, Slyozov and Wagner. The convergence towards the scaling solution is extremely slow, and we report a systematic deviation between the observed small correction to scaling and a theoretical prediction of this quantity.