Dynamics of Early-stage Self-assembly of Objective Structures

The early stages of self-assembly can be very important in determining if a stable structure will be formed and can influence assembly at later times. We study self-assembly of objective structures, which consist of atoms or molecules that each see the exact same environment, such as carbon nanotubes and virus capsids. The initial dynamics of this assembly is modeled using Becker-Doring (a reaction rate approach). Predictions are compared to data obtained from a large-scale ( 50 cm) fluid-magnetic analog to molecular-scale assembly.