Prof Ramin Golestanian

Abstract:

The conventional assumption that the self-diffusion coefficient of a small tracer can be obtained by a local and instantaneous application of Einstein's relation in a temperature field with spatial and temporal heterogeneity is revisited. It is shown that hydrodynamic fluctuations contribute to the self-diffusion tensor in a universal way, i.e. independent of the size and shape of the tracer. The hydrodynamic contribution is anisotropic--it reflects knowledge of the global anisotropy in the temperature profile, leading to anisotropic self-diffusion tensor for a spherical tracer. It is also retarded--it creates memory effects during the diffusion process due to hydrodynamic interactions.

Abstract:

We study the effect of electrostatic interactions on the distribution function of the end-to-end distance of a single polyelectrolyte chain in the rod-like limit. The extent to which the radial distribution function of a polyelectrolyte is reproduced by that of a wormlike chain with an adjusted effective persistence length is investigated. Strong evidence is found for a universal scaling formula connecting the effective persistence length of a polyelectrolyte with the strength of the electrostatic interaction and the Debye screening length.

Abstract:

We study the geometry dependence of the Casimir energy for deformed metal plates by a path integral quantization of the electromagnetic field. For the first time, we give a complete analytical result for the deformation induced change in Casimir energy delta E in an experimentally testable, nontrivial geometry, consisting of a flat and a corrugated plate. Our results show an interesting crossover for delta E as a function of the ratio of the mean plate distance H, to the corrugation length lambda: For lambda<>H.

Abstract:

The dynamics of the deformations of a moving contact line was analyzed using two different dissipation mechanism. The contact lines relax to their equilibrium from a distorted configuration with a characteristic inverse decay time because of their anomalous elasticity. It is found that the velocity of the contact lines depends on the dissipation mechanism of the system.