Finite-size effects in addition and chipping processes.

Abstract

We investigate analytically and numerically a system of clusters evolving via collisions with clusters of minimal mass (monomers). Each collision either leads to the addition of the monomer to the cluster or the chipping of a monomer from the cluster, and emerging behaviors depend on which of the two processes is more probable. If addition prevails, monomers disappear in a time that scales as lnN with the total mass N≫1, and the system reaches a jammed state. When chipping prevails, the system remains in a quasistationary state for a time that scales exponentially with N, but eventually, a giant fluctuation leads to the disappearance of monomers. In the marginal case, monomers disappear in a time that scales linearly with N, and the final supercluster state is a peculiar jammed state; i.e., it is not extensive.