Statistics of low energy excitations for the directed polymer in a 1+d1+d random medium (d=1,2,3d=1,2,3)

We consider a directed polymer of length $L$ in a random medium of space dimension $d=1,2,3$. The statistics of low energy excitations as a function of their size $l$ is numerically evaluated. These excitations can be divided into bulk and boundary excitations, with respective densities $\rho^{bulk}_L(E=0,l)$ and $\rho^{boundary}_L(E=0,l)$. We find that both densities follow the scaling behavior $\rho^{bulk,boundary}_L(E=0,l) = L^{-1-\theta_d} R^{bulk,boundary}(x=l/L)$, where $\theta_d$ is the exponent governing the energy fluctuations at zero temperature (with the well-known exact value $\theta_1=1/3$ in one dimension). In the limit $x=l/L \to 0$, both scaling functions $R^{bulk}(x)$ and $R^{boundary}(x)$ behave as $R^{bulk,boundary}(x) \sim x^{-1-\theta_d}$, leading to the droplet power law $\rho^{bulk,boundary}_L(E=0,l)\sim l^{-1-\theta_d}$ in the regime $1 \ll l \ll L$. Beyond their common singularity near $x \to 0$, the two scaling functions $R^{bulk,boundary}(x)$ are very different : whereas $R^{bulk}(x)$ decays monotonically for $0<x<1$, the function $R^{boundary}(x)$ first decays for $0<x<x_{min}$, then grows for $x_{min}<x<1$, and finally presents a power law singularity $R^{boundary}(x)\sim (1-x)^{-\sigma_d}$ near $x \to 1$. The density of excitations of length $l=L$ accordingly decays as $\rho^{boundary}_L(E=0,l=L)\sim L^{- \lambda_d}$ where $\lambda_d=1+\theta_d-\sigma_d$. We obtain $\lambda_1 \simeq 0.67$, $\lambda_2 \simeq 0.53$ and $\lambda_3 \simeq 0.39$, suggesting the possible relation $\lambda_d= 2 \theta_d$.Comment: 15 pages, 25 figure

Directed polymer in a random medium of dimension 1+1 and 1+3: weights statistics in the low-temperature phase

We consider the low-temperature $T<T_c$ disorder-dominated phase of the directed polymer in a random potentiel in dimension 1+1 (where $T_c=\infty$) and 1+3 (where $T_c<\infty$). To characterize the localization properties of the polymer of length $L$, we analyse the statistics of the weights $w_L(\vec r)$ of the last monomer as follows. We numerically compute the probability distributions $P_1(w)$ of the maximal weight $w_L^{max}= max_{\vec r} [w_L(\vec r)]$, the probability distribution $\Pi(Y_2)$ of the parameter $Y_2(L)= \sum_{\vec r} w_L^2(\vec r)$ as well as the average values of the higher order moments $Y_k(L)= \sum_{\vec r} w_L^k(\vec r)$. We find that there exists a temperature $T_{gap}<T_c$ such that (i) for $T<T_{gap}$, the distributions $P_1(w)$ and $\Pi(Y_2)$ present the characteristic Derrida-Flyvbjerg singularities at $w=1/n$ and $Y_2=1/n$ for $n=1,2..$. In particular, there exists a temperature-dependent exponent $\mu(T)$ that governs the main singularities $P_1(w) \sim (1-w)^{\mu(T)-1}$ and $\Pi(Y_2) \sim (1-Y_2)^{\mu(T)-1}$ as well as the power-law decay of the moments $\bar{Y_k(i)} \sim 1/k^{\mu(T)}$. The exponent $\mu(T)$ grows from the value $\mu(T=0)=0$ up to $\mu(T_{gap}) \sim 2$. (ii) for $T_{gap}<T<T_c$, the distribution $P_1(w)$ vanishes at some value $w_0(T)<1$, and accordingly the moments $\bar{Y_k(i)}$ decay exponentially as $(w_0(T))^k$ in $k$. The histograms of spatial correlations also display Derrida-Flyvbjerg singularities for $T<T_{gap}$. Both below and above $T_{gap}$, the study of typical and averaged correlations is in full agreement with the droplet scaling theory.Comment: 13 pages, 29 figure

Glassy phases in Random Heteropolymers with correlated sequences

We develop a new analytic approach for the study of lattice heteropolymers, and apply it to copolymers with correlated Markovian sequences. According to our analysis, heteropolymers present three different dense phases depending upon the temperature, the nature of the monomer interactions, and the sequence correlations: (i) a liquid phase, (ii) a ``soft glass'' phase, and (iii) a ``frozen glass'' phase. The presence of the new intermediate ``soft glass'' phase is predicted for instance in the case of polyampholytes with sequences that favor the alternation of monomers. Our approach is based on the cavity method, a refined Bethe Peierls approximation adapted to frustrated systems. It amounts to a mean field treatment in which the nearest neighbor correlations, which are crucial in the dense phases of heteropolymers, are handled exactly. This approach is powerful and versatile, it can be improved systematically and generalized to other polymeric systems

Probing the tails of the ground state energy distribution for the directed polymer in a random medium of dimension d=1,2,3d=1,2,3 via a Monte-Carlo procedure in the disorder

In order to probe with high precision the tails of the ground-state energy distribution of disordered spin systems, K\"orner, Katzgraber and Hartmann \cite{Ko_Ka_Ha} have recently proposed an importance-sampling Monte-Carlo Markov chain in the disorder. In this paper, we combine their Monte-Carlo procedure in the disorder with exact transfer matrix calculations in each sample to measure the negative tail of ground state energy distribution $P_d(E_0)$ for the directed polymer in a random medium of dimension $d=1,2,3$. In $d=1$, we check the validity of the algorithm by a direct comparison with the exact result, namely the Tracy-Widom distribution. In dimensions $d=2$ and $d=3$, we measure the negative tail up to ten standard deviations, which correspond to probabilities of order $P_d(E_0) \sim 10^{-22}$. Our results are in agreement with Zhang's argument, stating that the negative tail exponent $\eta(d)$ of the asymptotic behavior $\ln P_d (E_0) \sim - | E_0 |^{\eta(d)}$ as $E_0 \to -\infty$ is directly related to the fluctuation exponent $\theta(d)$ (which governs the fluctuations $\Delta E_0(L) \sim L^{\theta(d)}$ of the ground state energy $E_0$ for polymers of length $L$) via the simple formula $\eta(d)=1/(1-\theta(d))$. Along the paper, we comment on the similarities and differences with spin-glasses.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figure

Protein Folding and Spin Glass

We explicitly show the connection between the protein folding problem and spin glass transition. This is then used to identify appropriate quantities that are required to describe the transition. A possible way of observing the spin glass transition is proposed.Comment: Revtex3+epsf, 8 pages and one postscript figure tarred, compressed and uuencoded--appended at the end of the file. Minor TeX change

Adsorption of a random heteropolymer at a potential well revisited: location of transition point and design of sequences

The adsorption of an ideal heteropolymer loop at a potential point well is investigated within the frameworks of a standard random matrix theory. On the basis of semi-analytical/semi-numerical approach the histogram of transition points for the ensemble of quenched heteropolymer structures with bimodal symmetric distribution of types of chain's links is constructed. It is shown that the sequences having the transition points in the tail of the histogram display the correlations between nearest-neighbor monomers.Comment: 11 pages (revtex), 3 figure

On the multifractal statistics of the local order parameter at random critical points : application to wetting transitions with disorder

Disordered systems present multifractal properties at criticality. In particular, as discovered by Ludwig (A.W.W. Ludwig, Nucl. Phys. B 330, 639 (1990)) on the case of diluted two-dimensional Potts model, the moments $\bar{\rho^q(r)}$ of the local order parameter $\rho(r)$ scale with a set $x(q)$ of non-trivial exponents $x(q) \neq q x(1)$. In this paper, we revisit these ideas to incorporate more recent findings: (i) whenever a multifractal measure $w(r)$ normalized over space $\sum_r w(r)=1$ occurs in a random system, it is crucial to distinguish between the typical values and the disorder averaged values of the generalized moments $Y_q =\sum_r w^q(r)$, since they may scale with different generalized dimensions $D(q)$ and $\tilde D(q)$ (ii) as discovered by Wiseman and Domany (S. Wiseman and E. Domany, Phys Rev E {\bf 52}, 3469 (1995)), the presence of an infinite correlation length induces a lack of self-averaging at critical points for thermodynamic observables, in particular for the order parameter. After this general discussion valid for any random critical point, we apply these ideas to random polymer models that can be studied numerically for large sizes and good statistics over the samples. We study the bidimensional wetting or the Poland-Scheraga DNA model with loop exponent $c=1.5$ (marginal disorder) and $c=1.75$ (relevant disorder). Finally, we argue that the presence of finite Griffiths ordered clusters at criticality determines the asymptotic value $x(q \to \infty) =d$ and the minimal value $\alpha_{min}=D(q \to \infty)=d-x(1)$ of the typical multifractal spectrum $f(\alpha)$.Comment: 17 pages, 20 figure

Effects of tidal-forcing variations on tidal properties along a narrow convergent estuary

A 1D analytical framework is implemented in a narrow convergent estuary that is 78 km in length (the Guadiana, Southern Iberia) to evaluate the tidal dynamics along the channel, including the effects of neap-spring amplitude variations at the mouth. The close match between the observations (damping from the mouth to ∼ 30 km, shoaling upstream) and outputs from semi-closed channel solutions indicates that the M2 tide is reflected at the estuary head. The model is used to determine the contribution of reflection to the dynamics of the propagating wave. This contribution is mainly confined to the upper one third of the estuary. The relatively constant mean wave height along the channel (< 10% variations) partly results from reflection effects that also modify significantly the wave celerity and the phase difference between tidal velocity and elevation (contradicting the definition of an “ideal” estuary). Furthermore, from the mouth to ∼ 50 km, the variable friction experienced by the incident wave at neap and spring tides produces wave shoaling and damping, respectively. As a result, the wave celerity is largest at neap tide along this lower reach, although the mean water level is highest in spring. Overall, the presented analytical framework is useful for describing the main tidal properties along estuaries considering various forcings (amplitude, period) at the estuary mouth and the proposed method could be applicable to other estuaries with small tidal amplitude to depth ratio and negligible river discharge.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Adsorption of polymers on a fluctuating surface

We study the adsorption of polymer chains on a fluctuating surface. Physical examples are provided by polymer adsorption at the rough interface between two non-miscible liquids, or on a membrane. In a mean-field approach, we find that the self--avoiding chains undergo an adsorption transition, accompanied by a stiffening of the fluctuating surface. In particular, adsorption of polymers on a membrane induces a surface tension and leads to a strong suppression of roughness.Comment: REVTEX, 9 pages, no figure