64,307 research outputs found
Rules for transition rates in nonequilibrium steady states
Just as transition rates in a canonical ensemble must respect the principle
of detailed balance, constraints exist on transition rates in driven steady
states. I derive those constraints, by maximum information-entropy inference,
and apply them to the steady states of driven diffusion and a sheared lattice
fluid. The resulting ensemble can potentially explain nonequilibrium phase
behaviour and, for steady shear, gives rise to stress-mediated long-range
interactions.Comment: 4 pages. To appear in Physical Review Letter
Coarsening of a Class of Driven Striped Structures
The coarsening process in a class of driven systems exhibiting striped
structures is studied. The dynamics is governed by the motion of the driven
interfaces between the stripes. When two interfaces meet they coalesce thus
giving rise to a coarsening process in which l(t), the average width of a
stripe, grows with time. This is a generalization of the reaction-diffusion
process A + A -> A to the case of extended coalescing objects, namely, the
interfaces. Scaling arguments which relate the coarsening process to the
evolution of a single driven interface are given, yielding growth laws for
l(t), for both short and long time. We introduce a simple microscopic model for
this process. Numerical simulations of the model confirm the scaling picture
and growth laws. The results are compared to the case where the stripes are not
driven and different growth laws arise
Product Measure Steady States of Generalized Zero Range Processes
We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of
factorizable steady states of the Generalized Zero Range Process. This process
allows transitions from a site to a site involving multiple particles
with rates depending on the content of the site , the direction of
movement, and the number of particles moving. We also show the sufficiency of a
similar condition for the continuous time Mass Transport Process, where the
mass at each site and the amount transferred in each transition are continuous
variables; we conjecture that this is also a necessary condition.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX with IOP style files. v2 has minor corrections; v3 has
been rewritten for greater clarit
Criticality and Condensation in a Non-Conserving Zero Range Process
The Zero-Range Process, in which particles hop between sites on a lattice
under conserving dynamics, is a prototypical model for studying real-space
condensation. Within this model the system is critical only at the transition
point. Here we consider a non-conserving Zero-Range Process which is shown to
exhibit generic critical phases which exist in a range of creation and
annihilation parameters. The model also exhibits phases characterised by
mesocondensates each of which contains a subextensive number of particles. A
detailed phase diagram, delineating the various phases, is derived.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure, published versi
Modelling one-dimensional driven diffusive systems by the Zero-Range Process
The recently introduced correspondence between one-dimensional two-species
driven models and the Zero-Range Process is extended to study the case where
the densities of the two species need not be equal. The correspondence is
formulated through the length dependence of the current emitted from a particle
domain. A direct numerical method for evaluating this current is introduced,
and used to test the assumptions underlying this approach. In addition, a model
for isolated domain dynamics is introduced, which provides a simple way to
calculate the current also for the non-equal density case. This approach is
demonstrated and applied to a particular two-species model, where a phase
separation transition line is calculated
An exactly solvable dissipative transport model
We introduce a class of one-dimensional lattice models in which a quantity,
that may be thought of as an energy, is either transported from one site to a
neighbouring one, or locally dissipated. Transport is controlled by a
continuous bias parameter q, which allows us to study symmetric as well as
asymmetric cases. We derive sufficient conditions for the factorization of the
N-body stationary distribution and give an explicit solution for the latter,
before briefly discussing physically relevant situations.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to J. Phys.
Infrared Observations of novae in the SOFIA era
Classical novae inject chemically enriched gas and dust into the local
inter-stellar medium (ISM). Abundances in the ejecta can be deduced from
infrared (IR) forbidden line emission. IR spectroscopy can determine the
mineralogy of grains that grow in nova ejecta. We anticipate the impact that
NASA's new Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) will have
on future IR studies of novae.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of "Physics of Evolved Stars 2015 - A
conference dedicated to the memory of Olivier Chesneau
The circumstellar dust of "Born-Again" stars
We describe the evolution of the carbon dust shells around Very Late Thermal
Pulse (VLTP) objects as seen at infrared wavelengths. This includes a 20-year
overview of the evolution of the dust around Sakurai's object (to which Olivier
made a seminal contribution) and FG Sge. VLTPs may occur during the endpoint of
as many as 25% of solar mass stars, and may therefore provide a glimpse of the
possible fate of the Sun.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of "Physics of Evolved Stars 2015 - A
conference dedicated to the memory of Olivier Chesneau
Stresses in lipid membranes
The stresses in a closed lipid membrane described by the Helfrich
hamiltonian, quadratic in the extrinsic curvature, are identified using
Noether's theorem. Three equations describe the conservation of the stress
tensor: the normal projection is identified as the shape equation describing
equilibrium configurations; the tangential projections are consistency
conditions on the stresses which capture the fluid character of such membranes.
The corresponding torque tensor is also identified. The use of the stress
tensor as a basis for perturbation theory is discussed. The conservation laws
are cast in terms of the forces and torques on closed curves. As an
application, the first integral of the shape equation for axially symmetric
configurations is derived by examining the forces which are balanced along
circles of constant latitude.Comment: 16 pages, introduction rewritten, other minor changes, new references
added, version to appear in Journal of Physics
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