Diff12.pptVIP

Module12: Random Walks and Diffusion DIFFUSION IN SOLIDS Professor Martin Eden Glicksman Professor Afina Lupulescu Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY, 12180 USA Outline Background Diffusive motions Random walks One-dimensional random walks Combinatoric formulation Random walks in higher dimensions Diffusion viewed as a stochastic process Diffusivity: a microscopic transport property Exercises One-Dimensional Random Walks One-Dimensional Random Walks One-Dimensional Random Walks Combinatoric Formulation Combinatoric Formulation Combinatoric Formulation 2-D Lattice Random Walk Random Walks in Higher Dimensions Multiple Random Walks 1-D Random Walk Java Applet 2-D Random Walk Java Applet Random Walks in Higher Dimensions Random Walks in Higher Dimensions Diffusion as a Stochastic Process Diffusion as a Stochastic Process Comparison of the probability density function with the cumulative probability in 3-D Diffusivity: As a Microscopic Transport Property Diffusivity: A Microscopic Transport Property Einstein’s Formula Exercises Exercises Exercises Exercises Exercises Exercises Key Points Diffusive motion in gases, liquids, and solids occur by a series of discrete steps, separated, respectively, by elastic collisions, localized vibrations, and short shuffles. Such motions may be treated by elementary random walk theory. Continuum diffusion theory (Fick’s laws) may be connected to random walk theory leading to Einstein’s microscopic description of the diffusion coefficient. Einstein showed that the diffusion coefficient is proportional to the frequency of the step motion and the square of the step length. Curiously, diffusion, which is an irreversible macroscopic process, actually is comprised of reversible microscopic steps. Irreversibility devolves from the large number of steps involved in macroscopic diffusion and the improbability of reversing these motions. ? meg/aol ‘02 A simple coin toss can be used as the random number generator ? “heads” c