Numerical Observation of Disorder-Induced Anomalous Kinetics in the A + A -> 0 Reaction

Abstract

We address via numerical simulation the two-dimensional bimolecular annihilation reaction $A + A \to \emptyset$ in the presence of quenched, random impurities. Renormalization group calculations have suggested that this reaction displays anomalous kinetics at long times, $c_{A}(t) \sim at^{δ-1}$, for certain types of topological or charged reactants and impurities. Both the exponent and the prefactor depend on the strength of disorder. The decay exponents determined from our simulations agree well with the values predicted by theory. The observed renormalization of the prefactor also agrees well with the values predicted by theory.