Mesoscopic Multi-Particle Collision Dynamics of Reaction-Diffusion Fronts

A mesoscopic multi-particle collision model for fluid dynamics is generalized to incorporate the chemical reactions among species that may diffuse at different rates. This generalization provides a means to simulate reaction-diffusion dynamics of complex reactive systems. The method is illustrated by a study of cubic autocatalytic fronts. The mesoscopic scheme is able to reproduce the results of reaction-diffusion descriptions under conditions where the mean field equations are valid. The model is also able to incorporate the effects of molecular fluctuations on the reactive dynamics.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Phase growth in bistable systems with impurities

A system of coupled chaotic bistable maps on a lattice with randomly distributed impurities is investigated as a model for studying the phenomenon of phase growth in nonuniform media. The statistical properties of the system are characterized by means of the average size of spatial domains of equivalent spin variables that define the phases. It is found that the rate at which phase domains grow becomes smaller when impurities are present and that the average size of the resulting domains in the inhomogeneous state of the system decreases when the density of impurities is increased. The phase diagram showing regions where homogeneous, heterogeneous, and chessboard patterns occur on the space of parameters of the system is obtained. A critical boundary that separates the regime of slow growth of domains from the regime of fast growth in the heterogeneous region of the phase diagram is calculated. The transition between these two growth regimes is explained in terms of the stability properties of the local phase configurations. Our results show that the inclusion of spatial inhomogeneities can be used as a control mechanism for the size and growth velocity of phase domains forming in spatiotemporal systems.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figure

Spectral properties and pattern selection in fractal growth networks

A model for the generation of fractal growth networks in Euclidean spaces of arbitrary dimension is presented. These networks are considered as the spatial support of reaction-diffusion and pattern formation processes. The local dynamics at the nodes of a fractal growth network is given by a nonlinear map, giving raise to a coupled map system. The coupling is described by a matrix whose eigenvectors constitute a basis on which spatial patterns on fractal growth networks can be expressed by linear combination. The spectrum of eigenvalues the coupling matrix exhibits a nonuniform distribution that is reflected in the presence of gaps or niches in the boundaries of stability of the synchronized states on the space of parameters of the system. These gaps allow for the selection of specific spatial patterns by appropriately varying the parameters of the system.Comment: 9 pages, 6 Figs, Submitted to Physica

Entanglement of 2xK quantum systems

We derive an analytical expression for the lower bound of the concurrence of mixed quantum states of composite 2xK systems. In contrast to other, implicitly defined entanglement measures, the numerical evaluation of our bound is straightforward. We explicitly evaluate its tightness for general mixed states of 2x3 systems, and identify a large class of states where our expression gives the exact value of the concurrence.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Europhysics Lette

Phase ordering induced by defects in chaotic bistable media

The phase ordering dynamics of coupled chaotic bistable maps on lattices with defects is investigated. The statistical properties of the system are characterized by means of the average normalized size of spatial domains of equivalent spin variables that define the phases. It is found that spatial defects can induce the formation of domains in bistable spatiotemporal systems. The minimum distance between defects acts as parameter for a transition from a homogeneous state to a heterogeneous regime where two phases coexist The critical exponent of this transition also exhibits a transition when the coupling is increased, indicating the presence of a new class of domain where both phases coexist forming a chessboard pattern.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Accepted in European Physics Journa

Emergence and persistence of communities in coevolutionary networks

We investigate the emergence and persistence of communities through a recently proposed mechanism of adaptive rewiring in coevolutionary networks. We characterize the topological structures arising in a coevolutionary network subject to an adaptive rewiring process and a node dynamics given by a simple voterlike rule. We find that, for some values of the parameters describing the adaptive rewiring process, a community structure emerges on a connected network. We show that the emergence of communities is associated to a decrease in the number of active links in the system, i.e. links that connect two nodes in different states. The lifetime of the community structure state scales exponentially with the size of the system. Additionally, we find that a small noise in the node dynamics can sustain a diversity of states and a community structure in time in a finite size system. Thus, large system size and/or local noise can explain the persistence of communities and diversity in many real systems.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Accepted in EPL (2014

Comparison of synthetic membranes in the development of an in vitro feeding system for Dermanyssus gallinae

Although artificial feeding models for the poultry red mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) most frequently use biological membranes consisting of day-old chick skin, there are ethical considerations associated with the use of skin. The few studies reported in the literature that have investigated the use of synthetic membranes to feed D. gallinae in vitro have reported limited success. The current study describes an investigation into the use of synthetic membranes made from either Nescofilm® or rayon and silicone, used either alone or in combination with different feather or skin extracts, as well as the use of capillary tubes. In all, 12 different treatments were used, and the feeding rate of D. gallinae was compared to that of day-old chick skin. Allowing mites to feed on a membrane consisting of Nescofilm with a skin extract resulted in the highest proportion of mites feeding (32.3%), which was not significantly different to the feeding rate of mites on day-old chick skin (38.8%). This study confirms that synthetic membranes can be used to feed D. gallinae artificially. Further optimization of the membrane and mite storage conditions is still necessary, but the study demonstrates a proof of concept

Random global coupling induces synchronization and nontrivial collective behavior in networks of chaotic maps

The phenomena of synchronization and nontrivial collective behavior are studied in a model of coupled chaotic maps with random global coupling. The mean field of the system is coupled to a fraction of elements randomly chosen at any given time. It is shown that the reinjection of the mean field to a fraction of randomly selected elements can induce synchronization and nontrivial collective behavior in the system. The regions where these collective states emerge on the space of parameters of the system are calculated.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figs, accepted in The European Physical Journa