Minimal perimeter for N identical bubbles in two dimensions: Calculations and simulations

S. J. Cox, F. Graner*, M. Fátima Vaz, C. Monnereau-Pittet, N. Pittet

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The minimal perimeter enclosing N planar regions, each being simply connected and of the same area, is an open problem, solved only for a few values of N. The problems of how to construct the configuration with the smallest possible perimeter E(N) and how to estimate the value of E(N) are considered. Defect-free configurations are classified and we start with the naïve approximation that the configuration is close to a circular portion of a honeycomb lattice. Numerical simulations and analysis that show excellent agreement to within one free parameter are presented; this significantly extends the range of values of N for which good candidates for the minimal perimeter have been found. We provide some intuitive insight into this problem in the hope that it will help the improvement in future numerical simulations and the derivation of exact results.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1393-1406
Number of pages14
JournalPhilosophical Magazine
Volume83
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Apr 2003
Externally publishedYes

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