title: Infinite family of persistence exponents for interface fluctuations.
abstract: We show experimentally and theoretically that the persistence of large deviations in equilibrium step fluctuations is characterized by an infinite family of independent exponents. These exponents are obtained by carefully analyzing dynamical experimental images of Al/Si(111) and Ag(111) equilibrium steps fluctuating at high (970 K) and low (320 K) temperatures, respectively, and by quantitatively interpreting our observations on the basis of the corresponding coarse-grained discrete and continuum theoretical models for thermal surface step fluctuations under attachment/detachment ("high-temperature") and edge-diffusion limited kinetics ("low-temperature"), respectively.
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Theory Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4111, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Constantin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Das Sarma
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bondarchuk
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Dougherty
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Williams