Abstract
Shearing solutions of fibers or polymers tends to align fiber or polymers in the flow direction. Here, non-Brownian rods subjected to oscillatory shear align perpendicular to the flow while the system undergoes a nonequilibrium absorbing phase transition. The slow alignment of the fibers can drive the system through the critical point and thus promote the transition to an absorbing state. This picture is confirmed by a universal scaling relation that collapses the data with critical exponents that are consistent with conserved directed percolation.
- Received 28 July 2011
DOI:
© 2011 American Physical Society
Authors & Affiliations
Alexandre Franceschini1, Emmanouela Filippidi1, Elisabeth Guazzelli2, and David J. Pine1
- 1Center for Soft Matter Research, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, New York 10003, USA
- 2IUSTI-CNRS UMR 6595–Polytech Marseille – Aix-Marseille Université, 5 rue Enrico Fermi, 13453 Marseille Cedex 13, France