Transfer operator analysis of the parallel dynamics of disordered Ising chains

We study the synchronous stochastic dynamics of the random field and random bond Ising chain. For this model the generating functional analysis methods of De Dominicis leads to a formalism with transfer operators, similar to transfer matrices in equilibrium studies, but with dynamical paths of spins and (conjugate) fields as arguments, as opposed to replicated spins. In the thermodynamic limit the macroscopic dynamics is captured by the dominant eigenspace of the transfer operator, leading to a relative simple and transparent set of equations that are easy to solve numerically. Our results are supported excellently by numerical simulations.Comment: 2 figures, 10 pages, submitted to Philosophical Magazin

Simulation-based analysis of micro-robots swimming at the center and near the wall of circular mini-channels

Swimming micro robots have great potential in biomedical applications such as targeted drug delivery, medical diagnosis, and destroying blood clots in arteries. Inspired by swimming micro organisms, micro robots can move in biofluids with helical tails attached to their bodies. In order to design and navigate micro robots, hydrodynamic characteristics of the flow field must be understood well. This work presents computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and analysis of the flow due to the motion of micro robots that consist of magnetic heads and helical tails inside fluid-filled channels akin to bodily conduits; special emphasis is on the effects of the radial position of the robot. Time-averaged velocities, forces, torques, and efficiency of the micro robots placed in the channels are analyzed as functions of rotation frequency, helical pitch (wavelength) and helical radius (amplitude) of the tail. Results indicate that robots move faster and more efficiently near the wall than at the center of the channel. Forces acting on micro robots are asymmetrical due to the chirality of the robot’s tail and its motion. Moreover, robots placed near the wall have a different flow pattern around the head when compared to in-center and unbounded swimmers. According to simulation results, time-averaged for-ward velocity of the robot agrees well with the experimental values measured previously for a robot with almost the same dimensions