Roughening, Deroughening, and Nonuniversal Scaling of the Interface Width in Electrophoretic Deposition of Polymer Chains

Growth and roughness of the interface of deposited polymer chains driven by a field onto an impenetrable adsorbing surface are studied by computer simulations in (2 + 1) dimensions. The evolution of the interface width W shows a crossover from short-time growth described by the exponent beta(1) to a long-time growth with exponent beta(2) (\u3ebeta(1)) Tne saturated width increases, i.e., the interface roughens, with the molecular weight L-c, but the roughness exponent alpha (from W-s similar to L-alpha) becomes negative in contrast to models for particle deposition; cr depends on the chain length-a nonuniversal scaling with the substrate length L. Roughening and deroughening occur as the field E and the temperature T compete such that W-s approximate to (A+BT)E-1/2

A new formulation of heat dissipation in a rocking Büttiker-Landauer ratchet model

Thermal ratchets achieve net particle transport through recti cation of thermal uctuations, which arise from one or more heat baths in the system. We propose a new formulation of heat dissipation from the ratchet to the thermal baths, using a rocking Büttiker-Landauer ratchet model. We found that heat transport between the ratchet and the heat baths is related to the effective temperature through the generalization of the uctuation-dissipation theorem for systems far from equilibrium. We showed that the net heat transport between the ratchet and the heat baths is different from Fourier's law and is the sum of two terms which are proportional to the nth power of the difference between the effective temperature of ratchet and the temperature of the baths. The power n depends only on the temperature of the bath, while the thermal conductivity also depends on the ratchet potential. These ndings suggest that anomalous heat dissipation can be a non-equilibrium measure for systems far from equilibrium.Fil: Mazzitello, Karina Irma. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Iguain, Jose Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Físicas de Mar del Plata. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Físicas de Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Jiang, Yi. Georgia State University; Estados UnidosFil: Family, Fereydoon. University of Emory; Estados UnidosFil: Arizmendi, C. Miguel. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentin

Trapping mechanism in overdamped ratchets with quenched noise

A trapping mechanism is observed and proposed as the origin of the anomalous behavior recently discovered in transport properties of overdamped ratchets subject to external oscillatory drive in the presence of quenched noise. In particular, this mechanism is shown to appear whenever the quenched disorder strength is greater than a threshold value. The minimum disorder strength required for the existence of traps is determined by studying the trap structure in a disorder configuration space. An approximation to the trapping probability density function in a disordered region of finite length included in an otherwise perfect ratchet lattice is obtained. The mean velocity of the particles and the diffusion coefficient are found to have a non-monotonic dependence on the quenched noise strength due to the presence of the traps.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, to appear in PR

Control of Current Reversal in Single and Multiparticle Inertia Ratchets

We have studied the deterministic dynamics of underdamped single and multiparticle ratchets associated with current reversal, as a function of the amplitude of the external driving force. Two experimentally inspired methods are used. In the first method the same initial condition is used for each new value of the amplitude. In the second method the last position and velocity is used as the new initial condition when the amplitude is changed. The two methods are found to be complementary for control of current reversal, because the first one elucidates the existence of different attractors and gives information about their basins of attraction, while the second method, although history dependent, shows the locking process. We show that control of current reversals in deterministic intertia ratchets is possible as a consequence of a locking process associated with different mean velocity attractors. An unlocking efect is produced when a chaos to order transition limits the control range.Comment: to be published in Physica A - 11 pages - 10 figure

Adhesion Failures Determine the Pattern of Choroidal Neovascularization in the Eye: A Computer Simulation Study

Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) of the macular area of the retina is the major cause of severe vision loss in adults. In CNV, after choriocapillaries initially penetrate Bruch's membrane (BrM), invading vessels may regress or expand (CNV initiation). Next, during Early and Late CNV, the expanding vasculature usually spreads in one of three distinct patterns: in a layer between BrM and the retinal pigment epithelium (sub-RPE or Type 1 CNV), in a layer between the RPE and the photoreceptors (sub-retinal or Type 2 CNV) or in both loci simultaneously (combined pattern or Type 3 CNV). While most studies hypothesize that CNV primarily results from growth-factor effects or holes in BrM, our three-dimensional simulations of multi-cell model of the normal and pathological maculae recapitulate the three growth patterns, under the hypothesis that CNV results from combinations of impairment of: 1) RPE-RPE epithelial junctional adhesion, 2) Adhesion of the RPE basement membrane complex to BrM (RPE-BrM adhesion), and 3) Adhesion of the RPE to the photoreceptor outer segments (RPE-POS adhesion). Our key findings are that when an endothelial tip cell penetrates BrM: 1) RPE with normal epithelial junctions, basal attachment to BrM and apical attachment to POS resists CNV. 2) Small holes in BrM do not, by themselves, initiate CNV. 3) RPE with normal epithelial junctions and normal apical RPE-POS adhesion, but weak adhesion to BrM (e.g. due to lipid accumulation in BrM) results in Early sub-RPE CNV. 4) Normal adhesion of RBaM to BrM, but reduced apical RPE-POS or epithelial RPE-RPE adhesion (e.g. due to inflammation) results in Early sub-retinal CNV. 5) Simultaneous reduction in RPE-RPE epithelial binding and RPE-BrM adhesion results in either sub-RPE or sub-retinal CNV which often progresses to combined pattern CNV. These findings suggest that defects in adhesion dominate CNV initiation and progression

MICROSCOPIC CALCULATION OF THE ANOMALOUS DISPERSION IN He II

L'utilisation d'une théorie microscopique, basée sur les méthodes de la théorie des champs, nous a permis de déterminer que le spectre élémentaire d'excitation de l'hélium II à zéro degré a une dispersion anormale qui peut être décrite par la relation E(k) = [MATH]ck[l + 0.11 k2 + ...].By using a microscopic theory based on field theoretic methods we have determined that the zero temperature elementary excitation spectrum of He II has an anomalous dispersion and can be described by the expression E(k) = [MATH]ck[1 + 0.11 k2 + ...]