A general creation-annihilation model with absorbing states

A one dimensional non-equilibrium stochastic model is proposed where each site of the lattice is occupied by a particle, which may be of type A or B. The time evolution of the model occurs through three processes: autocatalytic generation of A and B particles and spontaneous conversion A to B. The two-parameter phase diagram of the model is obtained in one- and two-site mean field approximations, as well as through numerical simulations and exact solution of finite systems extrapolated to the thermodynamic limit. A continuous line of transitions between an active and an absorbing phase is found. This critical line starts at a point where the model is equivalent to the contact process and ends at a point which corresponds to the voter model, where two absorbing states coexist. Thus, the critical line ends at a point where the transition is discontinuous. Estimates of critical exponents are obtained through the simulations and finite-size-scaling extrapolations, and the crossover between universality classes as the voter model transition is approached is studied.Comment: 9 pages and 17 figure

Semi-flexible trimers on the square lattice in the full lattice limit

Trimers are chains formed by two lattice edges, and therefore three monomers. We consider trimers placed on the square lattice, the edges belonging to the same trimer are either colinear, forming a straight rod with unitary statistical weight, or perpendicular, a statistical weight $\omega$ being associated to these angular trimers. The thermodynamic properties of this model are studied in the full lattice limit, where all lattice sites are occupied by monomers belonging to trimers. In particular, we use transfer matrix techniques to estimate the entropy of the system as a function of $\omega$. The entropy $s(\omega)$ is a maximum at $\omega=1$ and our results are compared to earlier studies in the literature for straight trimers ($\omega=0$), angular trimers ($\omega \to \infty$) and for mixtures of equiprobable straight and angular trimers ($\omega=1$).Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Entropy of chains placed on the square lattice

We obtain the entropy of flexible linear chains composed of M monomers placed on the square lattice using a transfer matrix approach. An excluded volume interaction is included by considering the chains to be self-and mutually avoiding, and a fraction rho of the sites are occupied by monomers. We solve the problem exactly on stripes of increasing width m and then extrapolate our results to the two-dimensional limit to infinity using finite-size scaling. The extrapolated results for several finite values of M and in the polymer limit M to infinity for the cases where all lattice sites are occupied (rho=1) and for the partially filled case rho<1 are compared with earlier results. These results are exact for dimers (M=2) and full occupation (\rho=1) and derived from series expansions, mean-field like approximations, and transfer matrix calculations for some other cases. For small values of M, as well as for the polymer limit M to infinity, rather precise estimates of the entropy are obtained.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Limited dissemination of the wastewater treatment plant core resistome

Horizontal gene transfer is a major contributor to the evolution of bacterial genomes and can facilitate the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes between environmental reservoirs and potential pathogens. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are believed to play a central role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes. However, the contribution of the dominant members of the WWTP resistome to resistance in human pathogens remains poorly understood. Here we use a combination of metagenomic functional selections and comprehensive metagenomic sequencing to uncover the dominant genes of the WWTP resistome. We find that this core resistome is unique to the WWTP environment, with <10% of the resistance genes found outside the WWTP environment. Our data highlight that, despite an abundance of functional resistance genes within WWTPs, only few genes are found in other environments, suggesting that the overall dissemination of the WWTP resistome is comparable to that of the soil resistome