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It is usually assumed that the memory of any thermo-mechanical protocol applied to a glass can be erased by heating the material in the supercooled liquid. While this is true for thermally treated amorphous solids, we show that hydrostatic compression can irreversibly modify the atomic motion, thermodynamic state and structure of a prototypical metallic glass-former, in a way which depends on the degree of ergodicity reached by the material during compression. While enhanced kinetic and thermodynamic stability can be obtained by quenching the dense liquid, high-pressure annealing in the glass leads to thermal rejuvenation and complex structural rearrangements at the level of the short and medium range order. When heated above their glass transition temperature, these compressed glasses do not convert into the pristine supercooled liquid but rather transform into different systems, challenging the generally accepted idea of an equilibrium recovery controlled solely by the microscopic $\alpha$-relaxation process.

Modern detector technology and highly brilliant fourth-generation synchrotrons allow to improve the temporal resolution in time-resolved diffraction studies. Profiting from this, we applied temperature scanning X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) to probe the dynamics of a Pt-based metallic glass former in the glass, glass transition region, and supercooled liquid, covering up to six orders of magnitude in time scales. Our data demonstrates that the structural alpha-relaxation process is still observable in the glass, although it is partially masked by a faster source of decorrelation observed at atomic scale. We present an approach that interprets these findings as the superposition of heterogeneous liquid-like and stress-driven ballistic-like atomic motions. This work not only extends the dynamical range probed by standard isothermal XPCS, but also clarifies the fate of the alpha-relaxation across the glass transition and provides a new perception on the anomalous, compressed temporal decay of the density-density correlation functions observed in metallic glasses and many out-of-equilibrium soft materials.

A fascinating feature of metallic glasses is their ability to explore different configurations under mechanical deformations. This effect is usually observed through macroscopic observables, while little is known on the consequence of the deformation at atomic level. Using the new generation of synchrotrons, we probe the atomic motion and structure in a metallic glass under hydrostatic compression, from the onset of the perturbation up to a severely-compressed state. While the structure indicates reversible densification under compression, the dynamic is dramatically accelerated and exhibits a hysteresis with two regimes. At low pressures, the atomic motion is heterogeneous with avalanche-like rearrangements suggesting rejuvenation, while under further compression, aging leads to a super-diffusive dynamics triggered by internal stresses inherent to the glass. These results highlight the complexity of the atomic motion in non-ergodic systems and support a theory recently developed to describe the surprising rejuvenation and strain hardening of metallic glasses under compression., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures + Supplementary Information (7 pages, 9 figures). First submitted version of manuscript

We report the Sr and Ba isotopic compositions of 18 presolar SiC grains of types Y (11) and Z (7), rare types commonly argued to have formed in lower-than-solar metallicity asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We find that the Y and Z grains show higher 88Sr/87Sr and more variable 138Ba/136Ba ratios than mainstream (MS) grains. According to FRANEC Torino AGB models, the Si, Sr, and Ba isotopic compositions of our Y and Z grains can be consistently explained if the grains came from low mass AGB stars with 0.15 Zsun <= Z < 1.00 Zsun, in which the 13C neutron exposure for the slow neutron-capture process is greatly reduced with respect to that required by MS grains for a 1.0 Z8 AGB star. This scenario is in line with the previous finding based on Ti isotopes, but it fails to explain the indistinguishable Mo isotopic compositions of MS, Y, and Z grains., Comment: Accepted by EPJA

The particle motion associated to the {\alpha}-relaxation in supercooled liquids is still challenging scientists due to its difficulty to be probed experimentally. By combining synchrotron techniques, we found the existence of microscopic structure-dynamics relationships in Pt42.5Cu27Ni9.5P21 and Pd42.5Cu27Ni9.5P21 liquids which allows us to disentangle structural and kinetic contributions to the {\alpha}-process. While the two alloys show similar kinetic fragilities, their structural fragilities differ and correlate with the temperature dependence of the stretching parameter describing the decay of the density fluctuations. This implies that the evolution of dynamical heterogeneities in supercooled alloys is determined by the rigidity of the melt structure. We find also that the atomic motion not only reflects the topological order but also the chemical short-range order, which can lead to a surprising slowdown of the {\alpha}-process at the mesoscopic length scale. These results will contribute to the comprehension of the glass transition, which is still missing.

We present a detailed investigation of the wave vector dependence of collective atomic motion in Au49Cu26.9Si16.3Ag5.5Pd2.3 and Pd42.5Cu27Ni9.5P21 supercooled liquids close to the glass transition temperature. Using x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy in a precedent uncovered spatial range of only few interatomic distances, we show that the microscopic structural relaxation process follows in phase the structure with a marked slowing down at the main average inter-particle distance. This behavior is accompanied by dramatic changes in the shape of the intermediate scattering functions which suggest the presence of large dynamical heterogeneities at length-scales corresponding to few particle diameters. A ballistic-like mechanism of particle motion seems to govern the structural relaxation of the two systems in the highly viscous phase, likely associated to hopping of caged particles in agreement with theoretical studies.

We report Mo isotopic compositions of 37 presolar SiC grains of types Y (19) and Z (18), rare types commonly argued to have formed in lower-than-solar metallicity asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Direct comparison of the Y and Z grain data with data for mainstream grains from AGB stars of close-to-solar metallicity demonstrates that the three types of grains have indistinguishable Mo isotopic compositions. We show that the Mo isotope data can be used to constrain the maximum stellar temperatures (TMAX) during thermal pulses in AGB stars. Comparison of FRUITY Torino AGB nucleosynthesis model calculations with the grain data for Mo isotopes points to an origin from low-mass (~1.5-3 Msun) rather than intermediate-mass (>3-~9 Msun) AGB stars. Because of the low efficiency of 22Ne({\alpha},n)25Mg at the low TMAX values attained in low-mass AGB stars, model calculations cannot explain the large 30Si excesses of Z grains as arising from neutron capture, so these excesses remain a puzzle at the moment., Comment: The Astrophysical Journal (Accepted)

Motivated by the dynamics of microbubbles near catalytic surfaces in bubble-powered microrockets, we consider theoretically the growth of a free spherical bubble near a flat no-slip surface in a Stokes flow. The flow at the bubble surface is characterised by a constant slip length allowing to tune the hydrodynamic mobility of its surface and tackle in one formulation both clean and contaminated bubbles as well as rigid shells. Starting with a bubble of infinitesimal size, the fluid flow and hydrodynamic forces on the growing bubble are obtained analytically. We demonstrate that, depending on the value of the bubble slip length relative to the initial distance to the wall, the bubble will either monotonically drain the fluid separating it from the wall, which will exponentially thin, or it will bounce off the surface once before eventually draining the thin film. Clean bubbles are shown to be a singular limit who always monotonically get repelled from the surface. The bouncing events for bubbles with finite slip lengths are further analysed in detail in the lubrication limit. In particular, we identify the origin of the reversal of the hydrodynamic force direction as due to the change in the flow pattern in the film between the bubble and the surface and to the associated lubrication pressure. Finally, the final drainage dynamics of the film is observed to follow a universal algebraic scaling for all finite slip lengths., Comment: 22 pages; 7 figures; to appear in J. Fluid Mech

We compare updated Torino postprocessing asymptotic giant branch (AGB) nucleosynthesis model calculations with isotopic compositions of mainstream SiC dust grains from low-mass AGB stars. Based on the data-model comparison, we provide new constraints on the major neutron source, 13C({\alpha},n)16O in the He-intershell, for the s-process. We show that the literature Ni, Sr, and Ba grain data can only be consistently explained by the Torino model calculations that adopt the recently proposed magnetic-buoyancy-induced 13C-pocket. This observation provides strong support to the suggestion of deep mixing of H into the He-intershell at low 13C concentrations as a result of efficient transport of H through magnetic tubes., Comment: ApJ, accepted

A fluid droplet suspended in an extensional flow of moderate intensity may break into pieces, depending on the amplitude of the initial droplet deformation. In subcritical uniaxial extensional flow the non-breaking base state is linearly stable, implying that only a finite amplitude perturbation can trigger break-up. Consequently, the stable base solution is surrounded by its finite basin of attraction. The basin boundary, which separates initial droplet shapes returning to the non-breaking base state from those becoming unstable and breaking up, is characterized using edge tracking techniques. We numerically construct the edge state, a dynamically unstable equilibrium whose stable manifold forms the basin boundary. The edge state equilibrium controls if the droplet breaks and selects a unique path towards break-up. This path physically corresponds to the well-known end-pinching mechanism. Our results thereby rationalize the dynamics observed experimentally [Stone & Leal, J. Fluid Mech. 206, 223 (1989)]

A popular method to induce synthetic propulsion at the microscale is to use the forces created by surface-produced gas bubbles inside the asymmetric body of a catalytic swimmer (referred to in the literature as microrocket). Gas bubbles nucleate and grow within the catalytic swimmer and migrate toward one of its opening under the effect of asymmetric geometric confinement, thus generating a net hydrodynamic force which propels the device. In this paper we use numerical simulations to develop a joint chemical (diffusive) and hydrodynamic (Stokes) analysis of the bubble growth within a conical catalytic microrocket and of the associated bubble and microrocket motion. Our computational model allows us to solve for the bubble dynamics over one full bubble cycle ranging from its nucleation to its exiting the conical rocket and therefore to identify the propulsion characteristics as function of all design parameters, including geometry and chemical activity of the motor, surface tension phenomena, and all physicochemical constants. Our results suggest that hydrodynamics and chemistry partially decouple in the motion of the bubbles, with hydrodynamics determining the distance travelled by the microrocket over each cycle while chemistry setting the bubble ejection frequency. Our numerical model finally allows us to identify an optimal microrocket shape and size for which the swimming velocity (distance travelled per cycle duration) is maximized.