title: Universality and hysteretic dynamics in rapid fracture.
abstract: Experiments in the dynamic fracture of brittle polyacrylamide gels show that a single-crack state undergoes a hysteretic transition to the microbranching instability with a characteristic activation time. Quantitative measurements also indicate that features such as crack front inertia, self-focusing of microbranches, and the appearance of front waves are universal attributes of dynamic fracture.
authors.affiliation: The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Livne
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fineberg