2007/08/08 by Franck Celestini, Fabrice Mortessagne · 43 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Chemical Physics Studies #Atomic units #Classical mechanics #Computer science #Diffusion #Diffusion process #Innovation diffusion #Knudsen number #Mechanics #Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures #Optics #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Reflection (computer programming) #Reflection coefficient #Scale (ratio) #Slip (aerodynamics) #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #Statistical physics #Thermodynamics #cond-mat.stat-mech #nlin.CD
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.77.021202
published in Physical Review E 77(2), 021202 (American Physical Society)
arxiv created 2007/08/08 · openalex publication_date 2008/02/08 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We propose to reconsider the diffusion of atoms in the Knudsen regime in terms of a complex dynamical reflection process. By means of molecular dynamics simulations, we emphasize the asymptotic nature of the cosine law of reflection at the atomic scale, and carefully analyze the resulting strong correlations in the reflection events. A dynamical interpretation of the accommodation coefficient associated with the slip at the wall interface is also proposed. Finally, we show that the first two moments of the stochastic process of reflection depend nonuniformly on the incident angle.