title: Cumulative distribution functions associated with bubble-nucleation processes in cavitation.
abstract: Bubble-nucleation processes of a Lennard-Jones liquid are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Waiting time, which is the lifetime of a superheated liquid, is determined for several system sizes, and the apparent finite-size effect of the nucleation rate is observed. From the cumulative distribution function of the nucleation events, the bubble-nucleation process is found to be not a simple Poisson process but a Poisson process with an additional relaxation time. The parameters of the exponential distribution associated with the process are determined by taking the relaxation time into account, and the apparent finite-size effect is removed. These results imply that the use of the arithmetic mean of the waiting time until a bubble grows to the critical size leads to an incorrect estimation of the nucleation rate.
authors.affiliation: Supercomputing Division, Information Technology Center, The University of Tokyo, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8658, Japan. watanabe@cc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Nobuyasu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ito