Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 250601 (2004) [4 pages]

Diffusion on a Solid Surface: Anomalous is Normal

Abstract

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J. M. Sancho¹, A. M. Lacasta², K. Lindenberg³, I. M. Sokolov⁴, and A. H. Romero⁵
¹Departament d’Estructura i Constituents de la Matèria, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 647, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain
²Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avinguda Doctor Marañon 44, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain
³Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry 0340, and Institute for Nonlinear Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0340, USA
⁴Institut für Physik, Humboldt Universitæt zu Berlin, Newtonstrasse 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany
⁵Advanced Materials Department, IPICyT, Camino a la presa San José 2055, CP 78216, San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, México

Received 22 October 2003; published 23 June 2004

We present a numerical study of classical particles diffusing on a solid surface. The particles’ motion is modeled by an underdamped Langevin equation with ordinary thermal noise. The particle-surface interaction is described by a periodic or a random two-dimensional potential. The model leads to a rich variety of different transport regimes, some of which correspond to anomalous diffusion such as has recently been observed in experiments and Monte Carlo simulations. We show that this anomalous behavior is controlled by the friction coefficient and stress that it emerges naturally in a system described by ordinary canonical Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics.

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.250601
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.250601
PACS: 05.40.–a, 68.35.Fx, 68.43.Jk

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 250601 (2004) [4 pages]

Diffusion on a Solid Surface: Anomalous is Normal

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