Boundary-induced heterogeneous absorbing states

We study two different types of systems with many absorbing states (with and without a conservation law) and scrutinize the effect of walls/boundaries (either absorbing or reflecting) into them. In some cases, non-trivial structured absorbing configurations (characterized by a background field) develop around the wall. We study such structures using a mean-field approach as well as computer simulations. The main results are: i) for systems in the directed percolation class, a very fast (exponential) convergence of the background to its bulk value is observed; ii) for systems with a conservation law, power-law decaying landscapes are induced by both types of walls: while for absorbing walls this effect is already present in the mean-field approximation, for reflecting walls the structured background is a noise-induced effect. The landscapes are shown to converge to their asymptotic bulk values with an exponent equal to the inverse of the bulk correlation length exponent. Finally, the implications of these results in the context of self-organizing systems are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Reentrant Behavior of the Spinodal Curve in a Nonequilibrium Ferromagnet

The metastable behavior of a kinetic Ising--like ferromagnetic model system in which a generic type of microscopic disorder induces nonequilibrium steady states is studied by computer simulation and a mean--field approach. We pay attention, in particular, to the spinodal curve or intrinsic coercive field that separates the metastable region from the unstable one. We find that, under strong nonequilibrium conditions, this exhibits reentrant behavior as a function of temperature. That is, metastability does not happen in this regime for both low and high temperatures, but instead emerges for intermediate temperature, as a consequence of the non-linear interplay between thermal and nonequilibrium fluctuations. We argue that this behavior, which is in contrast with equilibrium phenomenology and could occur in actual impure specimens, might be related to the presence of an effective multiplicative noise in the system.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; Final version to appear in Phys. Rev. E; Section V has been revise

Reply to comment on "Simple one-dimensional model of heat conduction which obeys Fourier's law"

In this reply we answer the comment by A. Dhar (cond-mat/0203077) on our Letter "Simple one dimensional model of heat conduction which obeys Fourier's law" (Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5486 (2001), cond-mat/0104453)Comment: 1 pag., 1 fi

Effect of a No-Smoking Policy Aboard a U. S. Navy Aircraft Carrier

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact if a no-smoking policy aboard the Atlantic Fleet carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71) on the crew\u27s smoking behavior and exposure to ETS, as well as crew attitudes regarding smoking policy. All crew members aboard ship were asked to participate in a baseline and post-intervention survey

Theoretical Characterization of the Interface in a Nonequilibrium Lattice System

The influence of nonequilibrium bulk conditions on the properties of the interfaces exhibited by a kinetic Ising--like model system with nonequilibrium steady states is studied. The system is maintained out of equilibrium by perturbing the familiar spin--flip dynamics at temperature T with completely--random flips; one may interpret these as ideally simulating some (dynamic) impurities. We find evidence that, in the present case, the nonequilibrium mechanism adds to the basic thermal one resulting on a renormalization of microscopic parameters such as the probability of interfacial broken bonds. On this assumption, we develop theory for the nonequilibrium "surface tension", which happens to show a non--monotonous behavior with a maximum at some finite T. It ensues, in full agreement with Monte Carlo simulations, that interface fluctuations differ qualitatively from the equilibrium case, e.g., the interface remains rough at zero--T. We discuss on some consequences of these facts for nucleation theory, and make some explicit predictions concerning the nonequilibrium droplet structure.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Re

Experimental Study of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos in a 1550 nm-VCSEL Subject to Polarized Optical Injection

We report the experimental observation of nonlinear dynamics including chaos in a1550nm-VCSEL subject to parallel- and orthogonally-polarized optical injection

Bistability patterns and nonlinear switching with very high contrast ratio in a 1550 nm quantum dash semiconductor laser

We report on the experimental observation of optical bistability (OB) and nonlinear switching (NS) in a nanostructure laser; specifically a 1550 nm quantum dash Fabry-Perot laser subject to external optical injection and operated in reflection. Different shapes of optical bistability and nonlinear switching, anticlockwise and clockwise, with very high on-off contrast ratio (up to 180:1) between output states were experimentally measured. These results added to the potential of nanostructure lasers for enhanced performance offer promise for use in fast all-optical signal processing applications in optical networks. © 2012 American Institute of Physics

Overcoming the Recalcitrance for the Conversion of Kenaf Pulp to Glucose via Microwave-Assisted Pre Treatment Processes

This study evaluates the pre-treatment of cellulose from kenaf plant to yield sugar precursors for the production of ethanol or butanol for use as biofuel additives. In order to convert the crystalline cellulosic form to the amorphous form that can undergo enzymatic hydrolysis of the glycosidic bond to yield sugars, kenaf pulp samples were subjected to two different pre-treatment processes. In the acid pre-treatment, the pulp samples were treated with 37.5% hydrochloric acid in the presence of FeCl 3 at 50 °C or 90 °C whereas in the alkaline method, the pulp samples were treated with 25% sodium hydroxide at room temperature and with 2% or 5% sodium hydroxide at 50 °C. Microwave-assisted NaOH-treatment of the cellulose was also investigated and demonstrated to be capable of producing high glucose yield without adverse environmental impact by circumventing the use of large amounts of concentrated acids i.e., 83-85% phosphoric acid employed in most digestion processes. The treated samples were digested with the cellulase enzyme from Trichoderma reesei. The amount of glucose produced was quantified using the QuantichromTMglucose bioassay for assessing the efficiency of glucose production for each of the treatment processes. The microwave-assisted alkaline pre-treatment processes conducted at 50 °C were found to be the most effective in the conversion of the crystalline cellulose to the amorphous form based on the significantly higher yields of sugar produced by enzymatic hydrolysis compared to the untreated sample

Entangled networks, synchronization, and optimal network topology

A new family of graphs, {\it entangled networks}, with optimal properties in many respects, is introduced. By definition, their topology is such that optimizes synchronizability for many dynamical processes. These networks are shown to have an extremely homogeneous structure: degree, node-distance, betweenness, and loop distributions are all very narrow. Also, they are characterized by a very interwoven (entangled) structure with short average distances, large loops, and no well-defined community-structure. This family of nets exhibits an excellent performance with respect to other flow properties such as robustness against errors and attacks, minimal first-passage time of random walks, efficient communication, etc. These remarkable features convert entangled networks in a useful concept, optimal or almost-optimal in many senses, and with plenty of potential applications computer science or neuroscience.Comment: Slightly modified version, as accepted in Phys. Rev. Let