Fluctuating diffusion-limited aggregates

Abstract

We study the structure and growth of a difusion-limited aggregate (DLA) for which the constitutive units remain mobile during the aggregation process. Contrary to DLA where far from equilibrium conditions are the prevalent factor for growth, the structure of the aggregate is here determined by a combination of annealed and quenched processes. The internal flexibility allows the aggregate to span the equilibrium configurational space, and such thermally driven motion further modifies the connectivity statistics of the growing branched structure.