Ilievski, FilipMani, MadhavWhitesides, GeorgeBrenner, Michael2014-09-302011Ilievski, Filip, Madhav Mani, George M. Whitesides, and Michael P. Brenner. 2011. “Self-Assembly of Magnetically Interacting Cubes by a Turbulent Fluid Flow.” Phys. Rev. E 83, no. 1: 017301.1539-3755http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12967687Previous work has demonstrated that combining mechanical vibration with magnetic interactions can result in the self-assembly of complex structures, albeit at low yield. Here we introduce a system where the yield of self-assembled structures is quantitatively predicted by a theoretical analysis. Millimeter-sized magnetic blocks, designed to form chains as their minimal energy state, are placed in a turbulent fluid flow. The distribution of chain lengths that form is quantitatively consistent with predictions, showing that the chain length distribution coincides with that of monomers or polymers in a thermal bath, with the turbulence strength parametrizing the effective temperature.en-USJournal Article2014-09-3010.1103/physreve.83.017301