Disordered Regimes of the one-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation

I review recent work on the ``phase diagram'' of the one-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation for system sizes at which chaos is extensive. Particular attention is paid to a detailed description of the spatiotemporally disordered regimes encountered. The nature of the transition lines separating these phases is discussed, and preliminary results are presented which aim at evaluating the phase diagram in the infinite-size, infinite-time, thermodynamic limit.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, 9 figures available by anonymous ftp to amoco.saclay.cea.fr in directory pub/chate, or by requesting them to [email protected]

General framework of the non-perturbative renormalization group for non-equilibrium steady states

This paper is devoted to presenting in detail the non-perturbative renormalization group (NPRG) formalism to investigate out-of-equilibrium systems and critical dynamics in statistical physics. The general NPRG framework for studying non-equilibrium steady states in stochastic models is expounded and fundamental technicalities are stressed, mainly regarding the role of causality and of Ito's discretization. We analyze the consequences of Ito's prescription in the NPRG framework and eventually provide an adequate regularization to encode them automatically. Besides, we show how to build a supersymmetric NPRG formalism with emphasis on time-reversal symmetric problems, whose supersymmetric structure allows for a particularly simple implementation of NPRG in which causality issues are transparent. We illustrate the two approaches on the example of Model A within the derivative expansion approximation at order two, and check that they yield identical results.Comment: 28 pages, 1 figure, minor corrections prior to publicatio

Langevin equations for reaction-diffusion processes

For reaction-diffusion processes with at most bimolecular reactants, we derive well-behaved, numerically tractable, exact Langevin equations that govern a stochastic variable related to the response field in field theory. Using duality relations, we show how the particle number and other quantities of interest can be computed. Our work clarifies long-standing conceptual issues encountered in field-theoretical approaches and paves the way for systematic numerical and theoretical analyses of reaction-diffusion problems.Comment: 5 pages + 6 pages supplemental materia

Absorbing states and elastic interfaces in random media: two equivalent descriptions of self-organized criticality

We elucidate a long-standing puzzle about the non-equilibrium universality classes describing self-organized criticality in sandpile models. We show that depinning transitions of linear interfaces in random media and absorbing phase transitions (with a conserved non-diffusive field) are two equivalent languages to describe sandpile criticality. This is so despite the fact that local roughening properties can be radically different in the two pictures, as explained here. Experimental implications of our work as well as promising paths for future theoretical investigations are also discussed.Comment: 4 pages. 2 Figure

Characterizing dynamics with covariant Lyapunov vectors

A general method to determine covariant Lyapunov vectors in both discrete- and continuous-time dynamical systems is introduced. This allows to address fundamental questions such as the degree of hyperbolicity, which can be quantified in terms of the transversality of these intrinsic vectors. For spatially extended systems, the covariant Lyapunov vectors have localization properties and spatial Fourier spectra qualitatively different from those composing the orthonormalized basis obtained in the standard procedure used to calculate the Lyapunov exponents.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review letter

To synchronize or not to synchronize, that is the question: finite-size scaling and fluctuation effects in the Kuramoto model

The entrainment transition of coupled random frequency oscillators presents a long-standing problem in nonlinear physics. The onset of entrainment in populations of large but finite size exhibits strong sensitivity to fluctuations in the oscillator density at the synchronizing frequency. This is the source for the unusual values assumed by the correlation size exponent $\nu'$. Locally coupled oscillators on a $d$-dimensional lattice exhibit two types of frequency entrainment: symmetry-breaking at $d > 4$, and aggregation of compact synchronized domains in three and four dimensions. Various critical properties of the transition are well captured by finite-size scaling relations with simple yet unconventional exponent values.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, to appear in a special issue of JSTAT dedicated to Statphys2

Vortex Glass and Vortex Liquid in Oscillatory Media

We study the disordered, multi-spiral solutions of two-dimensional homogeneous oscillatory media for parameter values at which the single spiral/vortex solution is fully stable. In the framework of the complex Ginzburg-Landau (CGLE) equation, we show that these states, heretofore believed to be static, actually evolve on ultra-slow timescales. This is achieved via a reduction of the CGLE to the evolution of the sole vortex position and phase coordinates. This true defect-mediated turbulence occurs in two distinct phases, a vortex liquid characterized by normal diffusion of individual spirals, and a slowly relaxing, intermittent, ``vortex glass''.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Long-Range Ordering of Vibrated Polar Disks

Vibrated polar disks have been used experimentally to investigate collective motion of driven particles, where fully-ordered asymptotic regimes could not be reached. Here we present a model reproducing quantitatively the single, binary and collective properties of this granular system. Using system sizes not accessible in the laboratory, we show in silico that true long-range order is possible in the experimental system. Exploring the model's parameter space, we find a phase diagram qualitatively different from that of dilute or point-like particle systems.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Synchronization of Coupled Systems with Spatiotemporal Chaos

We argue that the synchronization transition of stochastically coupled cellular automata, discovered recently by L.G. Morelli {\it et al.} (Phys. Rev. {\bf 58 E}, R8 (1998)), is generically in the directed percolation universality class. In particular, this holds numerically for the specific example studied by these authors, in contrast to their claim. For real-valued systems with spatiotemporal chaos such as coupled map lattices, we claim that the synchronization transition is generically in the universality class of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation with a nonlinear growth limiting term.Comment: 4 pages, including 3 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.