1996/02/05 by Peter Thomas, Peter B. Thomas, Thomas, Peter B. +2 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions #Condensed Matter (cond-mat) #FOS: Physical sciences #Surface Roughness and Optical Measurements #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/9602023
9 pages, uuencoded with 5 Figures. Send comments to [email protected]
arxiv created 1996/02/05 · openalex publication_date 1996/02/05 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A model for crack propagation and contact line depinning is studied. Although the model contains nonlocal interactions, it obeys general scaling relations for depinning via localized bursts or avalanches. Our numerical result for the roughness exponent in one dimension, χ=0.49 ± 0.05, agrees with recent experiments on cracks measuring the in-plane roughness χ≃ 0.5 - 0.6, as well as mean field arguments giving χ=1/2, but is significantly higher than the functional renormalization group prediction χ= 1/3.