Microscopic Theory for Long Range Spatial Correlations in Lattice Gas Automata

Lattice gas automata with collision rules that violate the conditions of semi-detailed-balance exhibit algebraic decay of equal time spatial correlations between fluctuations of conserved densities. This is shown on the basis of a systematic microscopic theory. Analytical expressions for the dominant long range behavior of correlation functions are derived using kinetic theory. We discuss a model of interacting random walkers with x-y anisotropy whose pair correlation function decays as 1/r^2, and an isotropic fluid-type model with momentum correlations decaying as 1/r^2. The pair correlation function for an interacting random walker model with interactions satisfying all symmetries of the square lattice is shown to have 1/r^4 density correlations. Theoretical predictions for the amplitude of the algebraic tails are compared with the results of computer simulations.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures, final version as publishe

Towards a Landau-Ginzburg-type Theory for Granular Fluids

In this paper we show how, under certain restrictions, the hydrodynamic equations for the freely evolving granular fluid fit within the framework of the time dependent Landau-Ginzburg (LG) models for critical and unstable fluids (e.g. spinodal decomposition). The granular fluid, which is usually modeled as a fluid of inelastic hard spheres (IHS), exhibits two instabilities: the spontaneous formation of vortices and of high density clusters. We suppress the clustering instability by imposing constraints on the system sizes, in order to illustrate how LG-equations can be derived for the order parameter, being the rate of deformation or shear rate tensor, which controls the formation of vortex patterns. From the shape of the energy functional we obtain the stationary patterns in the flow field. Quantitative predictions of this theory for the stationary states agree well with molecular dynamics simulations of a fluid of inelastic hard disks.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, 8 figure

Geochelone carbonaria

Number of Pages: 7Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Chaos properties and localization in Lorentz lattice gases

The thermodynamic formalism of Ruelle, Sinai, and Bowen, in which chaotic properties of dynamical systems are expressed in terms of a free energy-type function - called the topological pressure - is applied to a Lorentz Lattice Gas, as typical for diffusive systems with static disorder. In the limit of large system sizes, the mechanism and effects of localization on large clusters of scatterers in the calculation of the topological pressure are elucidated and supported by strong numerical evidence. Moreover it clarifies and illustrates a previous theoretical analysis [Appert et al. J. Stat. Phys. 87, chao-dyn/9607019] of this localization phenomenon.Comment: 32 pages, 19 Postscript figures, submitted to PR

The Computational Complexity of the Lorentz Lattice Gas

The Lorentz lattice gas is studied from the perspective of computational complexity theory. It is shown that using massive parallelism, particle trajectories can be simulated in a time that scales logarithmically in the length of the trajectory. This result characterizes the ``logical depth" of the Lorentz lattice gas and allows us to compare it to other models in statistical physics.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX, to appear in J. Stat. Phy