Genuine Non-Self-Averaging and Ultra-Slow Convergence in Gelation

In irreversible aggregation processes droplets or polymers of microscopic size successively coalesce until a large cluster of macroscopic scale forms. This gelation transition is widely believed to be self-averaging, meaning that the order parameter (the relative size of the largest connected cluster) attains well-defined values upon ensemble averaging with no sample-to-sample fluctuations in the thermodynamic limit. Here, we report on anomalous gelation transition types. Depending on the growth rate of the largest clusters, the gelation transition can show very diverse patterns as a function of the control parameter, which includes multiple stochastic discontinuous transitions, genuine non-self-averaging and ultra-slow convergence of the transition point. Our framework may be helpful in understanding and controlling gelation.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Discontinuous percolation transitions in real physical systems

We study discontinuous percolation transitions (PT) in the diffusion-limited cluster aggregation model of the sol-gel transition as an example of real physical systems, in which the number of aggregation events is regarded as the number of bonds occupied in the system. When particles are Brownian, in which cluster velocity depends on cluster size as $v_s \sim s^{\eta}$ with $\eta=-0.5$, a larger cluster has less probability to collide with other clusters because of its smaller mobility. Thus, the cluster is effectively more suppressed in growth of its size. Then the giant cluster size increases drastically by merging those suppressed clusters near the percolation threshold, exhibiting a discontinuous PT. We also study the tricritical behavior by controlling the parameter $\eta$, and the tricritical point is determined by introducing an asymmetric Smoluchowski equation.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Percolation Transitions in Scale-Free Networks under Achlioptas Process

It has been recently shown that the percolation transition is discontinuous in Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi networks and square lattices in two dimensions under the Achlioptas Process (AP). Here, we show that when the structure is highly heterogeneous as in scale-free networks, a discontinuous transition does not always occur: a continuous transition is also possible depending on the degree distribution of the scale-free network. This originates from the competition between the AP that discourages the formation of a giant component and the existence of hubs that encourages it. We also estimate the value of the characteristic degree exponent that separates the two transition types.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Finite-size scaling theory for explosive percolation transitions

The finite-size scaling (FSS) theory for continuous phase transitions has been useful in determining the critical behavior from the size dependent behaviors of thermodynamic quantities. When the phase transition is discontinuous, however, FSS approach has not been well established yet. Here, we develop a FSS theory for the explosive percolation transition arising in the Erd\H{o}s and R\'enyi model under the Achlioptas process. A scaling function is derived based on the observed fact that the derivative of the curve of the order parameter at the critical point $t_c$ diverges with system size in a power-law manner, which is different from the conventional one based on the divergence of the correlation length at $t_c$. We show that the susceptibility is also described in the same scaling form. Numerical simulation data for different system sizes are well collapsed on the respective scaling functions.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure