9 research outputs found
Parasites on parasites:Coupled fluctuations in stacked contact processes
We present a model for host-parasite dynamics which incorporates both vertical and horizontal transmission as well as spatial structure. Our model consists of stacked contact processes (CP), where the dynamics of the host is a simple CP on a lattice while the dynamics of the parasite is a secondary CP which sits on top of the host-occupied sites. In the simplest case, where infection does not incur any cost, we uncover a novel effect: a non-monotonic dependence of parasite prevalence on host turnover. Inspired by natural examples of hyperparasitism, we extend our model to multiple levels of parasites and identify a transition between the maintenance of a finite and infinite number of levels, which we conjecture is connected to a roughening transition in models of surface growth
Modelling of quasi-optical arrays
A model for analyzing quasi-optical grid amplifiers based on a finite-element electromagnetic simulator is presented. This model is deduced from the simulation of the whole unit cell and takes into account mutual coupling effects. By using this model, the gain of a 10×10 grid amplifier has been accurately predicted. To further test the validity of the model three passive structures with different loads have been fabricated and tested using a new focused-beam network analyzer that we developed
A dynamically extending exclusion process
An extension of the totally asymmetric exclusion process, which incorporates
a dynamically extending lattice is explored. Although originally inspired as a
model for filamentous fungal growth, here the dynamically extending exclusion
process (DEEP) is studied in its own right, as a nontrivial addition to the
class of nonequilibrium exclusion process models. Here we discuss various
mean-field approximation schemes and elucidate the steady state behaviour of
the model and its associated phase diagram. Of particular note is that the
dynamics of the extending lattice leads to a new region in the phase diagram in
which a shock discontinuity in the density travels forward with a velocity that
is lower than the velocity of the tip of the lattice. Thus in this region the
shock recedes from both boundaries.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure
Parallel Coupling of Symmetric and Asymmetric Exclusion Processes
A system consisting of two parallel coupled channels where particles in one
of them follow the rules of totally asymmetric exclusion processes (TASEP) and
in another one move as in symmetric simple exclusion processes (SSEP) is
investigated theoretically. Particles interact with each other via hard-core
exclusion potential, and in the asymmetric channel they can only hop in one
direction, while on the symmetric lattice particles jump in both directions
with equal probabilities. Inter-channel transitions are also allowed at every
site of both lattices. Stationary state properties of the system are solved
exactly in the limit of strong couplings between the channels. It is shown that
strong symmetric couplings between totally asymmetric and symmetric channels
lead to an effective partially asymmetric simple exclusion process (PASEP) and
properties of both channels become almost identical. However, strong asymmetric
couplings between symmetric and asymmetric channels yield an effective TASEP
with nonzero particle flux in the asymmetric channel and zero flux on the
symmetric lattice. For intermediate strength of couplings between the lattices
a vertical cluster mean-field method is developed. This approximate approach
treats exactly particle dynamics during the vertical transitions between the
channels and it neglects the correlations along the channels. Our calculations
show that in all cases there are three stationary phases defined by particle
dynamics at entrances, at exits or in the bulk of the system, while phase
boundaries depend on the strength and symmetry of couplings between the
channels. Extensive Monte Carlo computer simulations strongly support our
theoretical predictions.Comment: 16 page
Demagnetization via Nucleation of the Nonequilibrium Metastable Phase in a Model of Disorder
We study both analytically and numerically metastability and nucleation in a
two-dimensional nonequilibrium Ising ferromagnet. Canonical equilibrium is
dynamically impeded by a weak random perturbation which models homogeneous
disorder of undetermined source. We present a simple theoretical description,
in perfect agreement with Monte Carlo simulations, assuming that the decay of
the nonequilibrium metastable state is due, as in equilibrium, to the
competition between the surface and the bulk. This suggests one to accept a
nonequilibrium "free-energy" at a mesoscopic/cluster level, and it ensues a
nonequilibrium "surface tension" with some peculiar low-T behavior. We
illustrate the occurrence of intriguing nonequilibrium phenomena, including:
(i) Noise-enhanced stabilization of nonequilibrium metastable states; (ii)
reentrance of the limit of metastability under strong nonequilibrium
conditions; and (iii) resonant propagation of domain walls. The cooperative
behavior of our system may also be understood in terms of a Langevin equation
with additive and multiplicative noises. We also studied metastability in the
case of open boundaries as it may correspond to a magnetic nanoparticle. We
then observe burst-like relaxation at low T, triggered by the additional
surface randomness, with scale-free avalanches which closely resemble the type
of relaxation reported for many complex systems. We show that this results from
the superposition of many demagnetization events, each with a well- defined
scale which is determined by the curvature of the domain wall at which it
originates. This is an example of (apparent) scale invariance in a
nonequilibrium setting which is not to be associated with any familiar kind of
criticality.Comment: 26 pages, 22 figure
Applications of Field-Theoretic Renormalization Group Methods to Reaction-Diffusion Problems
We review the application of field-theoretic renormalization group (RG)
methods to the study of fluctuations in reaction-diffusion problems. We first
investigate the physical origin of universality in these systems, before
comparing RG methods to other available analytic techniques, including exact
solutions and Smoluchowski-type approximations. Starting from the microscopic
reaction-diffusion master equation, we then pedagogically detail the mapping to
a field theory for the single-species reaction k A -> l A (l < k). We employ
this particularly simple but non-trivial system to introduce the
field-theoretic RG tools, including the diagrammatic perturbation expansion,
renormalization, and Callan-Symanzik RG flow equation. We demonstrate how these
techniques permit the calculation of universal quantities such as density decay
exponents and amplitudes via perturbative eps = d_c - d expansions with respect
to the upper critical dimension d_c. With these basics established, we then
provide an overview of more sophisticated applications to multiple species
reactions, disorder effects, L'evy flights, persistence problems, and the
influence of spatial boundaries. We also analyze field-theoretic approaches to
nonequilibrium phase transitions separating active from absorbing states. We
focus particularly on the generic directed percolation universality class, as
well as on the most prominent exception to this class: even-offspring branching
and annihilating random walks. Finally, we summarize the state of the field and
present our perspective on outstanding problems for the future.Comment: 10 figures include