66 research outputs found
The stochastic behavior of a molecular switching circuit with feedback
Background: Using a statistical physics approach, we study the stochastic
switching behavior of a model circuit of multisite phosphorylation and
dephosphorylation with feedback. The circuit consists of a kinase and
phosphatase acting on multiple sites of a substrate that, contingent on its
modification state, catalyzes its own phosphorylation and, in a symmetric
scenario, dephosphorylation. The symmetric case is viewed as a cartoon of
conflicting feedback that could result from antagonistic pathways impinging on
the state of a shared component.
Results: Multisite phosphorylation is sufficient for bistable behavior under
feedback even when catalysis is linear in substrate concentration, which is the
case we consider. We compute the phase diagram, fluctuation spectrum and
large-deviation properties related to switch memory within a statistical
mechanics framework. Bistability occurs as either a first-order or second-order
non-equilibrium phase transition, depending on the network symmetries and the
ratio of phosphatase to kinase numbers. In the second-order case, the circuit
never leaves the bistable regime upon increasing the number of substrate
molecules at constant kinase to phosphatase ratio.
Conclusions: The number of substrate molecules is a key parameter controlling
both the onset of the bistable regime, fluctuation intensity, and the residence
time in a switched state. The relevance of the concept of memory depends on the
degree of switch symmetry, as memory presupposes information to be remembered,
which is highest for equal residence times in the switched states.
Reviewers: This article was reviewed by Artem Novozhilov (nominated by Eugene
Koonin), Sergei Maslov, and Ned Wingreen.Comment: Version published in Biology Direct including reviewer comments and
author responses, 28 pages, 7 figure
An analytical framework for the performance evaluation of proximity-aware structured overlays
In this paper, we present an analytical study of proximity-aware structured peer-to-peer networks under churn. We use a master-equation-based approach, which is used traditionally in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics to describe steady-state or transient phenomena. In earlier work we have demonstrated that this methodology is in fact also well suited to describing structured overlay networks under churn, by showing how we can accurately predict the average number of hops taken by a lookup, for any value of churn, for the Chord system. In this paper, we extend the analysis so as to also be able to predict lookup latency, given an average latency for the links in the network. Our results show that there exists a region in the parameter space of the model, depending on churn, the number of nodes, the maintenance rates and the delays in the network, when the network cannot function as a small world graph anymore, due to the farthest connections of a node always being wrong or dead. We also demonstrate how it is possible to analyse proximity neighbour selection or proximity route selection within this formalism
Asymptotics of work distributions in a stochastically driven system
We determine the asymptotic forms of work distributions at arbitrary times
, in a class of driven stochastic systems using a theory developed by Engel
and Nickelsen (EN theory) (arXiv:1102.4505v1 [cond-mat.stat-mech]), which is
based on the contraction principle of large deviation theory. In this paper, we
extend the theory, previously applied in the context of deterministically
driven systems, to a model in which the driving is stochastic. The models we
study are described by overdamped Langevin equations and the work distributions
in the path integral form, are characterised by having quadratic actions. We
first illustrate EN theory, for a deterministically driven system - the
breathing parabola model, and show that within its framework, the Crooks
flucutation theorem manifests itself as a reflection symmetry property of a
certain characteristic polynomial function. We then extend our analysis to a
stochastically driven system, studied in ( arXiv:1212.0704v2
[cond-mat.stat-mech], arXiv:1402.5777v1 [cond-mat.stat-mech]) using a
moment-generating-function method, for both equilibrium and non - equilibrium
steady state initial distributions. In both cases we obtain new analytic
solutions for the asymptotic forms of (dissipated) work distributions at
arbitrary . For dissipated work in the steady state, we compare the large
asymptotic behaviour of our solution to that already obtained in (
arXiv:1402.5777v1 [cond-mat.stat-mech]). In all cases, special emphasis is
placed on the computation of the pre-exponential factor and the results show
excellent agreement with the numerical simulations. Our solutions are exact in
the low noise limit.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures. Changes from version 1: Several typos and
equations corrected, references added, pictures modified. Version to appear
in EPJ
Bubbling and Large-Scale Structures in Avalanche Dynamics
Using a simple lattice model for granular media, we present a scenario of
self-organization that we term self-organized structuring where the steady
state has several unusual features: (1) large scale space and/or time
inhomogeneities and (2) the occurrence of a non-trivial peaked distribution of
large events which propagate like ``bubbles'' and have a well-defined frequency
of occurrence. We discuss the applicability of such a scenario for other models
introduced in the framework of self-organized criticality.Comment: 5 pages RevTex, 4 eps figure
Clustering of solutions in hard satisfiability problems
We study the structure of the solution space and behavior of local search
methods on random 3-SAT problems close to the SAT/UNSAT transition. Using the
overlap measure of similarity between different solutions found on the same
problem instance we show that the solution space is shrinking as a function of
alpha. We consider chains of satisfiability problems, where clauses are added
sequentially. In each such chain, the overlap distribution is first smooth, and
then develops a tiered structure, indicating that the solutions are found in
well separated clusters. On chains of not too large instances, all solutions
are eventually observed to be in only one small cluster before vanishing. This
condensation transition point is estimated to be alpha_c = 4.26. The transition
approximately obeys finite-size scaling with an apparent critical exponent of
about 1.7. We compare the solutions found by a local heuristic, ASAT, and the
Survey Propagation algorithm up to alpha_c.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
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