4,878 research outputs found
Growing Resistance: Canadian Farmers and the Politics of Genetically Modified Wheat by Emily Eaton
Review of Growing Resistance: Canadian Farmers and the Politics of Genetically Modified Wheat by Emily Eaton
Kinetics of step bunching during growth: A minimal model
We study a minimal stochastic model of step bunching during growth on a
one-dimensional vicinal surface. The formation of bunches is controlled by the
preferential attachment of atoms to descending steps (inverse Ehrlich-Schwoebel
effect) and the ratio of the attachment rate to the terrace diffusion
coefficient. For generic parameters () the model exhibits a very slow
crossover to a nontrivial asymptotic coarsening exponent .
In the limit of infinitely fast terrace diffusion () linear coarsening
( = 1) is observed instead. The different coarsening behaviors are
related to the fact that bunches attain a finite speed in the limit of large
size when , whereas the speed vanishes with increasing size when .
For an analytic description of the speed and profile of stationary
bunches is developed.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure
New mechanism for impurity-induced step bunching
Codeposition of impurities during the growth of a vicinal surface leads to an
impurity concentration gradient on the terraces, which induces corresponding
gradients in the mobility and the chemical potential of the adatoms. Here it is
shown that the two types of gradients have opposing effects on the stability of
the surface: Step bunching can be caused by impurities which either lower the
adatom mobility, or increase the adatom chemical potential. In particular,
impurities acting as random barriers (without affecting the adatom binding)
cause step bunching, while for impurities acting as random traps the
combination of the two effects reduces to a modification of the attachment
boundary conditions at the steps. In this case attachment to descending steps,
and thus step bunching, is favored if the impurities bind adatoms more weakly
than the substrate.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Substantial revisions and correction
Dynamics of a disordered, driven zero range process in one dimension
We study a driven zero range process which models a closed system of
attractive particles that hop with site-dependent rates and whose steady state
shows a condensation transition with increasing density. We characterise the
dynamical properties of the mass fluctuations in the steady state in one
dimension both analytically and numerically and show that the transport
properties are anomalous in certain regions of the density-disorder plane. We
also determine the form of the scaling function which describes the growth of
the condensate as a function of time, starting from a uniform density
distribution.Comment: Revtex4, 5 pages including 2 figures; Revised version; To appear in
Phys. Rev. Let
Stationary and dynamical properties of a zero range process on scale-free networks
We study the condensation phenomenon in a zero range process on scale-free
networks. We show that the stationary state property depends only on the degree
distribution of underlying networks. The model displays a stationary state
phase transition between a condensed phase and an uncondensed phase, and the
phase diagram is obtained analytically. As for the dynamical property, we find
that the relaxation dynamics depends on the global structure of underlying
networks. The relaxation time follows the power law with the
network size in the condensed phase. The dynamic exponent is found to
take a different value depending on whether underlying networks have a tree
structure or not.Comment: 9 pages, 6 eps figures, accepted version in PR
Driven Lattice Gases with Quenched Disorder: Exact Results and Different Macroscopic Regimes
We study the effect of quenched spatial disorder on the steady states of
driven systems of interacting particles. Two sorts of models are studied:
disordered drop-push processes and their generalizations, and the disordered
asymmetric simple exclusion process. We write down the exact steady-state
measure, and consequently a number of physical quantities explicitly, for the
drop-push dynamics in any dimensions for arbitrary disorder. We find that three
qualitatively different regimes of behaviour are possible in 1- disordered
driven systems. In the Vanishing-Current regime, the steady-state current
approaches zero in the thermodynamic limit. A system with a non-zero current
can either be in the Homogeneous regime, chracterized by a single macroscopic
density, or the Segregated-Density regime, with macroscopic regions of
different densities. We comment on certain important constraints to be taken
care of in any field theory of disordered systems.Comment: RevTex, 17pages, 18 figures included using psfig.st
Sample-Dependent Phase Transitions in Disordered Exclusion Models
We give numerical evidence that the location of the first order phase
transition between the low and the high density phases of the one dimensional
asymmetric simple exclusion process with open boundaries becomes sample
dependent when quenched disorder is introduced for the hopping rates.Comment: accepted in Europhysics Letter
Bottleneck-induced transitions in a minimal model for intracellular transport
We consider the influence of disorder on the non-equilibrium steady state of
a minimal model for intracellular transport. In this model particles move
unidirectionally according to the \emph{totally asymmetric exclusion process}
(TASEP) and are coupled to a bulk reservoir by \emph{Langmuir kinetics}. Our
discussion focuses on localized point defects acting as a bottleneck for the
particle transport. Combining analytic methods and numerical simulations, we
identify a rich phase behavior as a function of the defect strength. Our
analytical approach relies on an effective mean-field theory obtained by
splitting the lattice into two subsystems, which are effectively connected
exploiting the local current conservation. Introducing the key concept of a
carrying capacity, the maximal current which can flow through the bulk of the
system (including the defect), we discriminate between the cases where the
defect is irrelevant and those where it acts as a bottleneck and induces
various novel phases (called {\it bottleneck phases}). Contrary to the simple
TASEP in the presence of inhomogeneities, many scenarios emerge and translate
into rich underlying phase-diagrams, the topological properties of which are
discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures, 1 tabl
Pattern Dynamics of Vortex Ripples in Sand: Nonlinear Modeling and Experimental Validation
Vortex ripples in sand are studied experimentally in a one-dimensional setup
with periodic boundary conditions. The nonlinear evolution, far from the onset
of instability, is analyzed in the framework of a simple model developed for
homogeneous patterns. The interaction function describing the mass transport
between neighboring ripples is extracted from experimental runs using a
recently proposed method for data analysis, and the predictions of the model
are compared to the experiment. An analytic explanation of the wavelength
selection mechanism in the model is provided, and the width of the stable band
of ripples is measured.Comment: 4 page
Morphological stability of electromigration-driven vacancy islands
The electromigration-induced shape evolution of two-dimensional vacancy
islands on a crystal surface is studied using a continuum approach. We consider
the regime where mass transport is restricted to terrace diffusion in the
interior of the island. In the limit of fast attachment/detachment kinetics a
circle translating at constant velocity is a stationary solution of the
problem. In contrast to earlier work [O. Pierre-Louis and T.L. Einstein, Phys.
Rev. B 62, 13697 (2000)] we show that the circular solution remains linearly
stable for arbitrarily large driving forces. The numerical solution of the full
nonlinear problem nevertheless reveals a fingering instability at the trailing
end of the island, which develops from finite amplitude perturbations and
eventually leads to pinch-off. Relaxing the condition of instantaneous
attachment/detachment kinetics, we obtain non-circular elongated stationary
shapes in an analytic approximation which compares favorably to the full
numerical solution.Comment: 12 page
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