2,751 research outputs found
Competition and cooperation:aspects of dynamics in sandpiles
In this article, we review some of our approaches to granular dynamics, now
well known to consist of both fast and slow relaxational processes. In the
first case, grains typically compete with each other, while in the second, they
cooperate. A typical result of {\it cooperation} is the formation of stable
bridges, signatures of spatiotemporal inhomogeneities; we review their
geometrical characteristics and compare theoretical results with those of
independent simulations. {\it Cooperative} excitations due to local density
fluctuations are also responsible for relaxation at the angle of repose; the
{\it competition} between these fluctuations and external driving forces, can,
on the other hand, result in a (rare) collapse of the sandpile to the
horizontal. Both these features are present in a theory reviewed here. An arena
where the effects of cooperation versus competition are felt most keenly is
granular compaction; we review here a random graph model, where three-spin
interactions are used to model compaction under tapping. The compaction curve
shows distinct regions where 'fast' and 'slow' dynamics apply, separated by
what we have called the {\it single-particle relaxation threshold}. In the
final section of this paper, we explore the effect of shape -- jagged vs.
regular -- on the compaction of packings near their jamming limit. One of our
major results is an entropic landscape that, while microscopically rough,
manifests {\it Edwards' flatness} at a macroscopic level. Another major result
is that of surface intermittency under low-intensity shaking.Comment: 36 pages, 23 figures, minor correction
Statistics of quantum transmission in one dimension with broad disorder
We study the statistics of quantum transmission through a one-dimensional
disordered system modelled by a sequence of independent scattering units. Each
unit is characterized by its length and by its action, which is proportional to
the logarithm of the transmission probability through this unit. Unit actions
and lengths are independent random variables, with a common distribution that
is either narrow or broad. This investigation is motivated by results on
disordered systems with non-stationary random potentials whose fluctuations
grow with distance.
In the statistical ensemble at fixed total sample length four phases can be
distinguished, according to the values of the indices characterizing the
distribution of the unit actions and lengths. The sample action, which is
proportional to the logarithm of the conductance across the sample, is found to
obey a fluctuating scaling law, and therefore to be non-self-averaging, in
three of the four phases. According to the values of the two above mentioned
indices, the sample action may typically grow less rapidly than linearly with
the sample length (underlocalization), more rapidly than linearly
(superlocalization), or linearly but with non-trivial sample-to-sample
fluctuations (fluctuating localization).Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Surface Properties of Aperiodic Ising Quantum Chains
We consider Ising quantum chains with quenched aperiodic disorder of the
coupling constants given through general substitution rules. The critical
scaling behaviour of several bulk and surface quantities is obtained by exact
real space renormalization.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, reference update
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How useful is the DSM-5 severity indicator in bulimia nervosa? A clinical study including a measure of impairment
The severity criterion used in DSM-5 for bulimia nervosa (BN) was investigated in 214 individuals referred for treatment at a regional eating disorders service in the UK. In addition to comparing eating disorder symptoms, impairment secondary to these symptoms was also assessed. According to guidance in DSM-5, 94 individuals were classified as mild (43.9%), 70 as moderate (32.7%), 32 as severe (15.0%), and 8 as extreme (3.7%) levels of BN severity. Due to small numbers in the latter two groups, it was necessary to combine these to form one ‘severe/extreme’ group. Analyses on these three groups suggested no group effect on demographic variables but differences were seen on measures of eating pathology, psychological distress, and psychosocial impairment between the mild group and other groups. Individuals in the moderate and severe/extreme groups scored comparably on most measures of pathology and impairment. The results are broadly consistent with past studies on community samples although together question the demarcation between moderate and more severe groups of individuals with BN
Structure of the stationary state of the asymmetric target process
We introduce a novel migration process, the target process. This process is
dual to the zero-range process (ZRP) in the sense that, while for the ZRP the
rate of transfer of a particle only depends on the occupation of the departure
site, it only depends on the occupation of the arrival site for the target
process. More precisely, duality associates to a given ZRP a unique target
process, and vice-versa. If the dynamics is symmetric, i.e., in the absence of
a bias, both processes have the same stationary-state product measure. In this
work we focus our interest on the situation where the latter measure exhibits a
continuous condensation transition at some finite critical density ,
irrespective of the dimensionality. The novelty comes from the case of
asymmetric dynamics, where the target process has a nontrivial fluctuating
stationary state, whose characteristics depend on the dimensionality. In one
dimension, the system remains homogeneous at any finite density. An alternating
scenario however prevails in the high-density regime: typical configurations
consist of long alternating sequences of highly occupied and less occupied
sites. The local density of the latter is equal to and their
occupation distribution is critical. In dimension two and above, the asymmetric
target process exhibits a phase transition at a threshold density much
larger than . The system is homogeneous at any density below ,
whereas for higher densities it exhibits an extended condensate elongated along
the direction of the mean current, on top of a critical background with density
.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figure
Metastability in zero-temperature dynamics: Statistics of attractors
The zero-temperature dynamics of simple models such as Ising ferromagnets
provides, as an alternative to the mean-field situation, interesting examples
of dynamical systems with many attractors (absorbing configurations, blocked
configurations, zero-temperature metastable states). After a brief review of
metastability in the mean-field ferromagnet and of the droplet picture, we
focus our attention onto zero-temperature single-spin-flip dynamics of
ferromagnetic Ising models. The situations leading to metastability are
characterized. The statistics and the spatial structure of the attractors thus
obtained are investigated, and put in perspective with uniform a priori
ensembles. We review the vast amount of exact results available in one
dimension, and present original results on the square and honeycomb lattices.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures. To appear in special issue of JPCM on Granular
Matter edited by M. Nicodem
Conformal invariance and linear defects in the two-dimensional Ising model
Using conformal invariance, we show that the non-universal exponent eta_0
associated with the decay of correlations along a defect line of modified bonds
in the square-lattice Ising model is related to the amplitude A_0=xi_n/n of the
correlation length \xi_n(K_c) at the bulk critical coupling K_c, on a strip
with width n, periodic boundary conditions and two equidistant defect lines
along the strip, through A_0=(\pi\eta_0)^{-1}.Comment: Old paper, for archiving. 5 pages, 4 figures, IOP macro, eps
Gary Wall, Plaintiff-Appellant v. James Wade, et al., Defendants-Appellees: Reply Brief of Appellant
Statistics of leaders and lead changes in growing networks
We investigate various aspects of the statistics of leaders in growing
network models defined by stochastic attachment rules. The leader is the node
with highest degree at a given time (or the node which reached that degree
first if there are co-leaders). This comprehensive study includes the full
distribution of the degree of the leader, its identity, the number of
co-leaders, as well as several observables characterizing the whole history of
lead changes: number of lead changes, number of distinct leaders, lead
persistence probability. We successively consider the following network models:
uniform attachment, linear attachment (the Barabasi-Albert model), and
generalized preferential attachment with initial attractiveness.Comment: 28 pages, 14 figures, 1 tabl
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