How Champagne bubbles can address world's future energy needs

A new study has shed light on champagne bubbles and examined that it may help address the world's future energy needs.

The researchers in Tokyo observed that pressure of the liquid is abruptly removed, bubbles immediately form and then rapidly begin the process of "coarsening", in which larger bubbles grow at the expense of smaller ones.

This fundamental nonequilibrium phenomenon is known as "Ostwald ripening" and though it is most familiar for its role in bubbly beverages, it is also seen in a wide range of scientific systems including spin systems, foams and metallic alloys.

Researchers from the University of Tokyo, Kyusyu University and RIKEN in Japan describe how they were able to simulate bubble nucleation from the molecular level by harnessing the K computer at RIKEN, the most powerful system in Japan.

The basic concept behind these simulations is to put some virtual molecules in a box, assign them initial velocities and study how they continue moving by using Newton's law of motion to determine their position over time.

The study is published in the Journal of Chemical Physics from AIP Publishing.