Form Factor:Superball

A superball is a general mathematical shape that can be used to describe rounded cubes. In fact, it is a general parametrization that can describe, via a parameter Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p} :

• Empty space (Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p=0.0} )
• Concave octahedra (Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p<0.5} )
• Octahedra (Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p=0.5} )
• Convex octahedra (Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 0.5<p<1} )
• Spheres (Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p=1} )
• Rounded cubes (Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p>1} )
• Cubes (Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p \to \infty} )

The general equation is parametrized by the size, Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle R} , and the curvature Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p} :

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \begin{alignat}{2} \left | \frac{x}{R} \right | ^{2p} + \left | \frac{y}{R} \right | ^{2p} + \left | \frac{z}{R} \right | ^{2p} & \le 1 \\ | x | ^{2p} + | y | ^{2p} + | z | ^{2p} & \le |R|^{2p} \\ \end{alignat} }

Obviously for Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p=1} , we recover the equation for a sphere. In the limit of large Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle p} , we obtain a cube.

Volume

The normalized volume for a superball is:

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \frac{ V_{\mathrm{sb}} }{R^3} = \frac{2}{2p} \mathrm{B}\left( \frac{1}{p} , \frac{2p+1}{2p} \right) \mathrm{B}\left( \frac{1}{2p} , \frac{p+1}{p} \right) }

Where Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathrm{B}\left( x,y \right) = \Gamma(x)\Gamma(y)/\Gamma(x+y)} and Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \Gamma(x)} is the usual Euler gamma function.

Equations

The form factor for a superball is likely not analytic. However, it can be computed numerically.

References

Mathematical descriptions of superballs

• N. D. Elkies, A. M. Odlyzko and J. A. Rush "On the packing densities of superballs and other bodies" Inventiones Mathematicae Volume 105, Number 1 (1991), 613-639, doi: 10.1007/BF01232282
• Y. Jiao, F.H. Stillinger, S. Torquato "Optimal packings of superballs" Physical Review E 2009, 79, 041309, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.79.041309

Application to nanoscience

• Yugang Zhang, Fang Lu, Daniel van der Lelie, Oleg Gang "Continuous Phase Transformation in Nanocube Assemblies" Physical Review Letters 2011, 107, 135701 doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.135701
• John Royer, George L. Burton, Daniel L. Blair and Steven Hudson Rheology and Dynamics of Colloidal Superballs Soft Matter 2015 doi: 10.1039/C5SM00729A

Use in scattering

• Yager, K.G.; Zhang, Y.; Lu, F.; Gang, O. "Periodic lattices of arbitrary nano-objects: modeling and applications for self-assembled systems" Journal of Applied Crystallography 2014, 47, 118–129. doi: 10.1107/S160057671302832X
  • See also summary of paper.