Effect of nonlinearity in hybrid kinetic Monte Carloa-continuum models

Ariel Balter, Guang Lin, Alexandre M. Tartakovsky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Recently there has been interest in developing efficient ways to model heterogeneous surface reactions with hybrid computational models that couple a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model for a surface to a finite-difference model for bulk diffusion in a continuous domain. We consider two representative problems that validate a hybrid method and show that this method captures the combined effects of nonlinearity and stochasticity. We first validate a simple deposition-dissolution model with a linear rate showing that the KMC-continuum hybrid agrees with both a fully deterministic model and its analytical solution. We then study a deposition-dissolution model including competitive adsorption, which leads to a nonlinear rate, and show that in this case the KMC-continuum hybrid and fully deterministic simulations do not agree. However, we are able to identify the difference as a natural result of the stochasticity coming from the KMC surface process. Because KMC captures inherent fluctuations, we consider it to be more realistic than a purely deterministic model. Therefore, we consider the KMC-continuum hybrid to be more representative of a real system.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number016707
JournalPhysical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
Volume85
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 9 2012
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
  • Statistics and Probability
  • Condensed Matter Physics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effect of nonlinearity in hybrid kinetic Monte Carloa-continuum models'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this