# name
Side-branch growth in two-dimensional dendrits. Part I: Experiments

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
The dynamics of growth of dendrites’ side branches is investigated experimentally during the crystallization of solutions of ammonium bromide in a quasi-two-dimensional cell. Two regimes are observed. At small values of the Peclet number a self-affine fractal forms. In this regime it is known that the mean lateral front grows as 
t
0.5
. Here the length of each individual branch is shown to grow (before being screened off) with a power-law behavior 
t
α
n
. The value of the exponent 
α
n
(
0.5
⩽
α
n
⩽
1
)
 is determined from the start by the strength of the initial disturbance. Coarsening then takes place, when the branches of small 
α
n
 are screened off by their neighbors. The corresponding decay of the growth of a weak branch is exponential and defined by its geometrical position relative to its dominant neighbors. These results show that the branch structure results from a deterministic growth of initially random disturbances. At large values of the Peclet number, the faster of the side branches escape and become independent dendrites. The global structure then covers a finite fraction of the two-dimensional space. The crossover between the two regimes and the spacing of these independent branches are characterized.

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (Física Quàntica i Astrofísica)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Side-branch growth in two-dimensional dendrits. Part I: Experiments