Anomalous diffusion and stretched exponentials in heterogeneous glass-forming liquids: Low-temperature behavior

We propose a model of a heterogeneous glass forming liquid and compute the low-temperature behavior of a tagged molecule moving within it. This model exhibits stretched-exponential decay of the wavenumber-dependent, self intermediate scattering function in the limit of long times. At temperatures close to the glass transition, where the heterogeneities are much larger in extent than the molecular spacing, the time dependence of the scattering function crosses over from stretched-exponential decay with an index $b=1/2$ at large wave numbers to normal, diffusive behavior with $b = 1$ at small wavenumbers. There is a clear separation between early-stage, cage-breaking $\beta$ relaxation and late-stage $\alpha$ relaxation. The spatial representation of the scattering function exhibits an anomalously broad exponential (non-Gaussian) tail for sufficiently large values of the molecular displacement at all finite times.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Theory of Single File Diffusion in a Force Field

The dynamics of hard-core interacting Brownian particles in an external potential field is studied in one dimension. Using the Jepsen line we find a very general and simple formula relating the motion of the tagged center particle, with the classical, time dependent single particle reflection ${\cal R}$ and transmission ${\cal T}$ coefficients. Our formula describes rich physical behaviors both in equilibrium and the approach to equilibrium of this many body problem.Comment: 4 Phys. Rev. page

Forcing anomalous scaling on demographic fluctuations

We discuss the conditions under which a population of anomalously diffusing individuals can be characterized by demographic fluctuations that are anomalously scaling themselves. Two examples are provided in the case of individuals migrating by Gaussian diffusion, and by a sequence of L\'evy flights.Comment: 5 pages 2 figure

Relativistic Weierstrass random walks

The Weierstrass random walk is a paradigmatic Markov chain giving rise to a L\'evy-type superdiffusive behavior. It is well known that Special Relativity prevents the arbitrarily high velocities necessary to establish a superdiffusive behavior in any process occurring in Minkowski spacetime, implying, in particular, that any relativistic Markov chain describing spacetime phenomena must be essentially Gaussian. Here, we introduce a simple relativistic extension of the Weierstrass random walk and show that there must exist a transition time $t_c$ delimiting two qualitative distinct dynamical regimes: the (non-relativistic) superdiffusive L\'evy flights, for $t < t_c$, and the usual (relativistic) Gaussian diffusion, for $t>t_c$. Implications of this crossover between different diffusion regimes are discussed for some explicit examples. The study of such an explicit and simple Markov chain can shed some light on several results obtained in much more involved contexts.Comment: 5 pages, final version to appear in PR

Cluster growth in far-from-equilibrium particle models with diffusion, detachment, reattachment and deposition

Monolayer cluster growth in far-from-equilibrium systems is investigated by applying simulation and analytic techniques to minimal hard core particle (exclusion) models. The first model (I), for post-deposition coarsening dynamics, contains mechanisms of diffusion, attachment, and slow activated detachment (at rate epsilon<<1) of particles on a line. Simulation shows three successive regimes of cluster growth: fast attachment of isolated particles; detachment allowing further (epsilon t)^(1/3) coarsening of average cluster size; and t^(-1/2) approach to a saturation size going like epsilon^(-1/2). Model II generalizes the first one in having an additional mechanism of particle deposition into cluster gaps, suppressed for the smallest gaps. This model exhibits early rapid filling, leading to slowing deposition due to the increasing scarcity of deposition sites, and then continued power law (epsilon t)^(1/2) cluster size coarsening through the redistribution allowed by slow detachment. The basic (epsilon t)^(1/3) domain growth laws and epsilon^(-1/2) saturation in model I are explained by a simple scaling picture. A second, fuller approach is presented which employs a mapping of cluster configurations to a column picture and an approximate factorization of the cluster configuration probability within the resulting master equation. This allows quantitative results for the saturation of model I in excellent agreement with the simulation results. For model II, it provides a one-variable scaling function solution for the coarsening probability distribution, and in particular quantitative agreement with the cluster length scaling and its amplitude.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev. E; 9 pages with figure

Migration and proliferation dichotomy in tumor cell invasion

We propose a two-component reaction-transport model for the migration-proliferation dichotomy in the spreading of tumor cells. By using a continuous time random walk (CTRW) we formulate a system of the balance equations for the cancer cells of two phenotypes with random switching between cell proliferation and migration. The transport process is formulated in terms of the CTRW with an arbitrary waiting time distribution law. Proliferation is modeled by a standard logistic growth. We apply hyperbolic scaling and Hamilton-Jacobi formalism to determine the overall rate of tumor cell invasion. In particular, we take into account both normal diffusion and anomalous transport (subdiffusion) in order to show that the standard diffusion approximation for migration leads to overestimation of the overall cancer spreading rate.Comment: 9 page

Exit times in non-Markovian drifting continuous-time random walk processes

By appealing to renewal theory we determine the equations that the mean exit time of a continuous-time random walk with drift satisfies both when the present coincides with a jump instant or when it does not. Particular attention is paid to the corrections ensuing from the non-Markovian nature of the process. We show that when drift and jumps have the same sign the relevant integral equations can be solved in closed form. The case when holding times have the classical Erlang distribution is considered in detail.Comment: 9 pages, 3 color plots, two-column revtex 4; new Appendix and references adde

Dimers on two-dimensional lattices

We consider close-packed dimers, or perfect matchings, on two-dimensional regular lattices. We review known results and derive new expressions for the free energy, entropy, and the molecular freedom of dimers for a number of lattices including the simple-quartic (4^4), honeycomb (6^3), triangular (3^6), kagome (3.6.3.6), 3-12 (3.12^2) and its dual [3.12^2], and 4-8 (4.8^2) and its dual Union Jack [4.8^2] Archimedean tilings. The occurrence and nature of phase transitions are also analyzed and discussed.Comment: Typos corrections in Eqs. (28), (32) and (43

Anomalous Drude Model

A generalization of the Drude model is studied. On the one hand, the free motion of the particles is allowed to be sub- or superdiffusive; on the other hand, the distribution of the time delay between collisions is allowed to have a long tail and even a non-vanishing first moment. The collision averaged motion is either regular diffusive or L\'evy-flight like. The anomalous diffusion coefficients show complex scaling laws. The conductivity can be calculated in the diffusive regime. The model is of interest for the phenomenological study of electronic transport in quasicrystals.Comment: 4 pages, latex, 2 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter

Rates of convergence of nonextensive statistical distributions to Levy distributions in full and half spaces

The Levy-type distributions are derived using the principle of maximum Tsallis nonextensive entropy both in the full and half spaces. The rates of convergence to the exact Levy stable distributions are determined by taking the N-fold convolutions of these distributions. The marked difference between the problems in the full and half spaces is elucidated analytically. It is found that the rates of convergence depend on the ranges of the Levy indices. An important result emerging from the present analysis is deduced if interpreted in terms of random walks, implying the dependence of the asymptotic long-time behaviors of the walks on the ranges of the Levy indices if N is identified with the total time of the walks.Comment: 20 page