Reweighting for Nonequilibrium Markov Processes Using Sequential Importance Sampling Methods

We present a generic reweighting method for nonequilibrium Markov processes. With nonequilibrium Monte Carlo simulations at a single temperature, one calculates the time evolution of physical quantities at different temperatures, which greatly saves the computational time. Using the dynamical finite-size scaling analysis for the nonequilibrium relaxation, one can study the dynamical properties of phase transitions together with the equilibrium ones. We demonstrate the procedure for the Ising model with the Metropolis algorithm, but the present formalism is general and can be applied to a variety of systems as well as with different Monte Carlo update schemes.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E (Rapid Communications

Generalization of Gutzwiller Approximation

We derive expressions required in generalizing the Gutzwiller approximation to models comprising arbitrarily degenerate localized orbitals.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, to appear in J.Phys.Soc.Jpn. vol.6

Stability of critical bubble in stretched fluid of square-gradient density-functional model with triple-parabolic free energy

The square-gradient density-functional model with triple-parabolic free energy, that was used previously to study the homogeneous bubble nucleation [J. Chem. Phys. 129, 104508 (2008)], is used to study the stability of the critical bubble nucleated within the bulk under-saturated stretched fluid. The stability of the bubble is studied by solving the Schr\"odinger equation for the fluctuation. The negative eigenvalue corresponds to the unstable growing mode of the fluctuation. Our results show that there is only one negative eigenvalue whose eigenfunction represents the fluctuation that corresponds to the isotropically growing or shrinking nucleus. In particular, this negative eigenvalue survives up to the spinodal point. Therefore the critical bubble is not fractal or ramified near the spinodal.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, Journal of Chemical Physics accepted for publicatio

Betti number signatures of homogeneous Poisson point processes

The Betti numbers are fundamental topological quantities that describe the k-dimensional connectivity of an object: B_0 is the number of connected components and B_k effectively counts the number of k-dimensional holes. Although they are appealing natural descriptors of shape, the higher-order Betti numbers are more difficult to compute than other measures and so have not previously been studied per se in the context of stochastic geometry or statistical physics. As a mathematically tractable model, we consider the expected Betti numbers per unit volume of Poisson-centred spheres with radius alpha. We present results from simulations and derive analytic expressions for the low intensity, small radius limits of Betti numbers in one, two, and three dimensions. The algorithms and analysis depend on alpha-shapes, a construction from computational geometry that deserves to be more widely known in the physics community.Comment: Submitted to PRE. 11 pages, 10 figure

Cross-correlating the Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect and the Distribution of Galaxy Clusters

We present the analytical formulas, derived based on the halo model, to compute the cross-correlation between the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect and the distribution of galaxy clusters. By binning the clusters according to their redshifts and masses, this cross-correlation, the so-called stacked SZ signal, reveals the average SZ profile around the clusters. The stacked SZ signal is obtainable from a joint analysis of an arcminute-resolution cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment and an overlapping optical survey, which allows for detection of the SZ signals for clusters whose masses are below the individual cluster detection threshold. We derive the error covariance matrix for measuring the stacked SZ signal, and then forecast for its detection from ongoing and forthcoming combined CMB-optical surveys. We find that, over a wide range of mass and redshift, the stacked SZ signal can be detected with a significant signal to noise ratio (total S/N \gsim 10), whose value peaks for the clusters with intermediate masses and redshifts. Our calculation also shows that the stacking method allows for probing the clusters' SZ profiles over a wide range of scales, even out to projected radii as large as the virial radius, thereby providing a promising way to study gas physics at the outskirts of galaxy clusters.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, minor revisions reflect PRD published versio

Spin Wave Instability of Itinerant Ferromagnet

We show variationally that instability of the ferromagnetic state in the Hubbard model is largely controlled by softening of a long-wavelength spin-wave excitation, except in the over-doped strong-coupling region where the individual-particle excitation becomes unstable first. A similar conclusion is drawn also for the double exchange ferromagnet. Generally the spin-wave instability may be regarded as a precursor of the metal-insulator transition.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

Crystallization and melting of bacteria colonies and Brownian Bugs

Motivated by the existence of remarkably ordered cluster arrays of bacteria colonies growing in Petri dishes and related problems, we study the spontaneous emergence of clustering and patterns in a simple nonequilibrium system: the individual-based interacting Brownian bug model. We map this discrete model into a continuous Langevin equation which is the starting point for our extensive numerical analyses. For the two-dimensional case we report on the spontaneous generation of localized clusters of activity as well as a melting/freezing transition from a disordered or isotropic phase to an ordered one characterized by hexagonal patterns. We study in detail the analogies and differences with the well-established Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young theory of equilibrium melting, as well as with another competing theory. For that, we study translational and orientational correlations and perform a careful defect analysis. We find a non standard one-stage, defect-mediated, transition whose nature is only partially elucidated.Comment: 13 Figures. 14 pages. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Zone Diagrams in Euclidean Spaces and in Other Normed Spaces

Zone diagram is a variation on the classical concept of a Voronoi diagram. Given n sites in a metric space that compete for territory, the zone diagram is an equilibrium state in the competition. Formally it is defined as a fixed point of a certain "dominance" map. Asano, Matousek, and Tokuyama proved the existence and uniqueness of a zone diagram for point sites in Euclidean plane, and Reem and Reich showed existence for two arbitrary sites in an arbitrary metric space. We establish existence and uniqueness for n disjoint compact sites in a Euclidean space of arbitrary (finite) dimension, and more generally, in a finite-dimensional normed space with a smooth and rotund norm. The proof is considerably simpler than that of Asano et al. We also provide an example of non-uniqueness for a norm that is rotund but not smooth. Finally, we prove existence and uniqueness for two point sites in the plane with a smooth (but not necessarily rotund) norm.Comment: Title page + 16 pages, 20 figure

Combining cluster observables and stacked weak lensing to probe dark energy: Self-calibration of systematic uncertainties

We develop a new method of combining cluster observables (number counts and cluster-cluster correlation functions) and stacked weak lensing signals of background galaxy shapes, both of which are available in a wide-field optical imaging survey. Assuming that the clusters have secure redshift estimates, we show that the joint experiment enables a self-calibration of important systematic errors including the source redshift uncertainty and the cluster mass-observable relation, by adopting a single population of background source galaxies for the lensing analysis. It allows us to use the relative strengths of stacked lensing signals at different cluster redshifts for calibrating the source redshift uncertainty, which in turn leads to accurate measurements of the mean cluster mass in each bin. In addition, our formulation of stacked lensing signals in Fourier space simplifies the Fisher matrix calculations, as well as the marginalization over the cluster off-centering effect, the most significant uncertainty in stacked lensing. We show that upcoming wide-field surveys yield stringent constraints on cosmological parameters including dark energy parameters, without any priors on nuisance parameters that model systematic uncertainties. Specifically, the stacked lensing information improves the dark energy FoM by a factor of 4, compared to that from the cluster observables alone. The primordial non-Gaussianity parameter can also be constrained with a level of f_NL~10. In this method, the mean source redshift is well calibrated to an accuracy of 0.1 in redshift, and the mean cluster mass in each bin to 5-10% accuracies, which demonstrates the success of the self-calibration of systematic uncertainties from the joint experiment. (Abridged)Comment: 29 pages, 17 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Three-dimensional antiferromagnetic q-state Potts models: application of the Wang-Landau algorithm

We apply a newly proposed Monte Carlo method, the Wang-Landau algorithm, to the study of the three-dimensional antiferromagnetic q-state Potts models on a simple cubic lattice. We systematically study the phase transition of the models with q=3, 4, 5 and 6. We obtain the finite-temperature phase transition for q= 3 and 4, whereas the transition temperature is down to zero for q=5. For q=6 there exists no order for all the temperatures. We also study the ground-state properties. The size-dependence of the ground-state entropy is investigated. We find that the ground-state entropy is larger than the contribution from the typical configurations of the broken-sublattice-symmetry state for q=3. The same situations are found for q = 4, 5 and 6.Comment: 9 pages including 9 eps figures, RevTeX, to appear in J. Phys.