On the origins of scaling corrections in ballistic growth models

We study the ballistic deposition and the grain deposition models on two-dimensional substrates. Using the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) ansatz for height fluctuations, we show that the main contribution to the intrinsic width, which causes strong corrections to the scaling, comes from the fluctuations in the height increments along deposition events. Accounting for this correction in the scaling analysis, we obtained scaling exponents in excellent agreement with the KPZ class. We also propose a method to suppress these corrections, which consists in divide the surface in bins of size $\varepsilon$ and use only the maximal height inside each bin to do the statistics. Again, scaling exponents in remarkable agreement with the KPZ class were found. The binning method allowed the accurate determination of the height distributions of the ballistic models in both growth and steady state regimes, providing the universal underlying fluctuations foreseen for KPZ class in 2+1 dimensions. Our results provide complete and conclusive evidences that the ballistic model belongs to the KPZ universality class in $2+1$ dimensions. Potential applications of the methods developed here, in both numerics and experiments, are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Continuous and discontinuous absorbing-state phase transitions on Voronoi-Delaunay random lattices

We study absorbing-state phase transitions in two-dimensional Voronoi-Delaunay (VD) random lattices with quenched coordination disorder. Quenched randomness usually changes the criticality and destroys discontinuous transitions in low-dimensional nonequilibrium systems. We performed extensive simulations of the Ziff-Gulari-Barshad (ZGB) model, and verified that the VD disorder does not change the nature of its discontinuous transition. Our results corroborate recent findings of Barghatti and Vojta [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 113}, 120602 (2014)] stating the irrelevance of topological disorder in a class of random lattices that includes VD and raise the interesting possibility that disorder in nonequilibrium APT may, under certain conditions, be irrelevant for the phase coexistence. We also verify that the VD disorder is irrelevant for the critical behavior of models belonging to the directed percolation and Manna universality classes.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Contact process on a Voronoi triangulation

We study the continuous absorbing-state phase transition in the contact process on the Voronoi-Delaunay lattice. The Voronoi construction is a natural way to introduce quenched coordination disorder in lattice models. We simulate the disordered system using the quasistationary simulation method and determine its critical exponents and moment ratios. Our results suggest that the critical behavior of the disordered system is unchanged with respect to that on a regular lattice, i.e., that of directed percolation

Early memories of warmth and safeness and eating psychopathology: The mediating role of social safeness and body appreciation

Research on human development and functioning has highlighted the importance of early emotional and relational experiences. Particularly, an association between the absence of early positive memories and the presence of disordered eating has been evidenced by recent investigations. However, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Using a sample of 490 women, the hypothesis that early positive memories are negatively associated with disordered eating via social safeness and a positive relationship with one’s body image was tested via path analysis. The tested model explained 51% of eating psychopathology’s variance, and revealed a good adjustment to the empirical data. Additionally, social safeness and body appreciation were revealed as mediators of the impact of early warm and safe memories on disordered eating, when controlling for the effect of BMI. These findings suggest the importance of targeting social safeness and acceptance, especially when defining potentially effective programmes for the prevention of eating disorders