In this paper, we introduce a variant of the honeycomb lattice in which we create defects by randomly exchanging adjacent bonds, producing a random tiling with a distribution of polygon edges. We study the percolation properties on these lattices as a function of the number of exchanged bonds using an alternative computational method. We find the site and bond percolation thresholds are consistent with other three-coordinated lattices with the same standard deviation in the degree distribution of the dual; here we can produce a continuum of lattices with a range of standard deviations in the distribution. These lattices should be useful for modeling other properties of random systems as well as percolation.

We systematically study several classical-quantum correspondence properties of the dissipative modified kicked rotator, a paradigmatic ratchet model. We explore the behavior of the asymptotic currents for finite ${\hslash }_{\mathrm{eff}}$ values in a wide range of the parameter space. We find that the correspondence between the classical currents with thermal noise providing fluctuations of size ${\hslash }_{\mathrm{eff}}$ and the quantum ones without it is very good in general with the exception of specific regions. We systematically consider the spectra of the corresponding classical Perron-Frobenius operators and quantum superoperators. By means of an average distance between the classical and quantum sets of eigenvalues we find that the correspondence is unexpectedly quite uniform. This apparent contradiction is solved with the help of the Weyl-Wigner distributions of the equilibrium eigenvectors, which reveal the key role of quantum effects by showing surviving coherences in the asymptotic states.

A wide range of natural and engineered phenomena rely on large networks of interacting units to reach a dynamical consensus state where the system collectively operates. Here we study the dynamics of self-organizing systems and show that for generic directed networks the collective frequency of the ensemble is not the same as the mean of the individuals' natural frequencies. Specifically, we show that the collective frequency equals a weighted average of the natural frequencies, where the weights are given by an outflow centrality measure that is equivalent to a reverse PageRank centrality. Our findings uncover an intricate dependence of the collective frequency on both the structural directedness and dynamical heterogeneity of the network, and also reveal an unexplored connection between synchronization and PageRank, which opens the possibility of applying PageRank optimization to synchronization. Finally, we demonstrate the presence of collective frequency variation in real-world networks by considering the UK and Scandinavian power grids.

We investigate the spread of an infection or other malfunction of cascading nature when a system component can recover only if it remains reachable from a functioning central component. We consider the susceptible-infected-susceptible model, typical of mathematical epidemiology, on a network. Infection spreads from infected to healthy nodes, with the addition that infected nodes can only recover when they remain connected to a predefined central node, through a path that contains only healthy nodes. In this system, clusters of infected nodes will absorb their noninfected interior because no path exists between the central node and encapsulated nodes. This gives rise to the simultaneous infection of multiple nodes. Interestingly, the system converges to only one of two stationary states: either the whole population is healthy or it becomes completely infected. This simultaneous cluster infection can give rise to discontinuous jumps of different sizes in the number of failed nodes. Larger jumps emerge at lower infection rates. The network topology has an important effect on the nature of the transition: we observed hysteresis for networks with dominating local interactions. Our model shows how local spread can abruptly turn uncontrollable when it disrupts connectivity at a larger spatial scale.

The diffusive behaviors of active colloids with run-and-tumble movement are explored by dissipative particle dynamics simulations for self-propelled particles (force dipole) and external field-driven particles (point force). The self-diffusion of tracers (solvent) is investigated as well. The influences of the active force, run time, and concentration associated with active particles are studied. For the system of self-propelled particles, the normal diffusion is observed for both active particles and tracers. The diffusivity of the former is significantly greater than that of the latter. For the system of field-driven particles, the superdiffusion is seen for both active particles and tracers. In contrast, it is found that the anomalous diffusion exponent of the former is slightly less than that of the latter. The anomalous diffusion is caused by the many-body, long-range hydrodynamic interactions. In spite of the superdiffusion, the sedimentation equilibrium of field-driven particles can be acquired and the density profile is still exponentially decayed. The sedimentation length of field-driven particles is always greater than that of self-propelled particles.

We investigate the aging behavior of glassy suspensions of nearly hard-sphere colloids submitted to a constant shear stress. For low stresses, below the yield stress, the system is subject to creep motion. As the sample ages, the shear rate exhibits a power-law decrease with time with exponents that depend on the sample age. We use a combination of rheological experiments with time-resolved photon correlation spectroscopy to investigate the time evolution of the sample dynamics under shear on various time and length scales. Long-time light-scattering experiments reveal the occurrence of microscopic rearrangement events that are linked with the macroscopic strain deformation of the sample. Dynamic time sweep experiments indicate that while the internal microscopic dynamics slow down continuously with waiting time, the storage and loss moduli are almost constant after a fast, weak decrease, resembling the behavior of quenched systems with partially frozen-in stresses.

The dielectrophoretic motion and shape deformation of a Newtonian liquid drop in an otherwise quiescent Newtonian liquid medium in the presence of an axisymmetric nonuniform dc electric field consisting of uniform and quadrupole components is investigated. The theory put forward by Feng [J. Q. Feng, Phys. Rev. E 54, 4438 (1996)] is generalized by incorporating the following two nonlinear effects—surface charge convection and shape deformation—towards determining the drop velocity. This two-way coupled moving boundary problem is solved analytically by considering small values of electric Reynolds number (ratio of charge relaxation time scale to the convection time scale) and electric capillary number (ratio of electrical stress to the surface tension) under the framework of the leaky dielectric model. We focus on investigating the effects of charge convection and shape deformation for different drop-medium combinations. A perfectly conducting drop suspended in a leaky (or perfectly) dielectric medium always deforms to a prolate shape and this kind of shape deformation always augments the dielectrophoretic drop velocity. For a perfectly dielectric drop suspended in a perfectly dielectric medium, the shape deformation leads to either increase (for prolate shape) or decrease (for oblate shape) in the dielectrophoretic drop velocity. Both surface charge convection and shape deformation affect the drop motion for leaky dielectric drops. The combined effect of these can significantly increase or decrease the dielectrophoretic drop velocity depending on the electrohydrodynamic properties of both the liquids and the relative strength of the electric Reynolds number and electric capillary number. Finally, comparison with the existing experiments reveals better agreement with the present theory.

We have studied the kinetics of spontaneous capillary rise and of the concurrent vapor adsorption in nanoporous, monolithic samples of Vycor glass with a mean pore diameter of $7.5$ nm. As liquids, we have chosen $n$-alcohols ($n=4–10$) whose vapor pressures at room temperature range from $p_0=965$ Pa down to $p_0=0.743$ Pa. Dielectric measurements allow us to achieve spatial selectivity to predefined parts of the porous Vycor glass. In this way, we are able to measure the overall uptake of molecules as well as vapor adsorption from the surroundings in unfilled parts of the pore network, i.e., above the liquid menisci of the rising imbibition front. We show that the latter process is unaltered compared to free adsorption in samples suspended above a liquid reservoir. Only at low vapor pressures, i.e., for long alcohols, vapor adsorption can be neglected and the capillary rise follows the theoretical predictions of the Lucas-Washburn $\sqrt{t}$ law. The more volatile the alcohol, the more important the additional adsorption of molecules becomes. We show that the overall filling process in the pore network is well described by a superposition of the Lucas-Washburn law and the measured vapor adsorption. In addition, the experiments give insight into the vapor diffusion dynamics in the porous matrix.

Energetic electron acceleration processes in a plasma hollow tube irradiated by an ultraintense laser pulse are investigated. It is found that the longitudinal component of the laser field is much enhanced when a linear polarized Gaussian laser pulse propagates through the plasma tube. This longitudinal field is of $\pi /2$ phase shift relative to the transverse electric field and has a $\pi$ phase interval between its upper and lower parts. The electrons in the plasma tube are first pulled out by the transverse electric field and then trapped by the longitudinal electric field. The trapped electrons can further be accelerated to higher energy in the presence of the longitudinal electric field. This acceleration mechanism is clearly illustrated by both particle-in-cell simulations and single particle modelings.

The electron-distribution function in homogeneous plasmas heated by a high-frequency laser field is calculated in velocity space from the Vlasov-Landau equation. The kinetic model is valid for moderate laser intensity defined by the relevant parameter $\alpha =v_0^2/v_t^2<0.5$ where $v_0$ and $v_t$ are the peak velocity of oscillation in the high-frequency electric field and the thermal velocity, respectively. The results obtained constitute an improvement of the results reported in the literature devoted to weak electric field intensities. The electron-distribution function is calculated solving the kinetic equation with the use of the Legendre polynomial expansion within the laser field dipole approximation. It results in an infinite set of equations for the isotropic component $f_0\left(v\right)$ and the anisotropic components $f_{n\ge 1}\left(v\right)$ that we have solved numerically with appropriate truncation. For the second anisotropy $f_2\left(v\right)$, we found that its maximum increases from the weak electric field intensity $\left(\alpha <0.01\right)$ to a moderate one $\left(\alpha =0.5\right)$ by a factor $f_{2max}\left(\alpha =0.5\right)/f_{2max}\left(\alpha =0.01\right)\approx 48$. Applications to the radiation pressure, electromagnetic instabilities, and photoabsorption are also considered.

In this work, we propose an interfacial scheme accompanying the lattice Boltzmann method for convection-diffusion equations with general interfacial conditions, including conjugate conditions with or without jumps in heat and mass transfer, continuity of macroscopic variables and normal fluxes in ion diffusion in porous media with different porosity, and the Kapitza resistance in heat transfer. The construction of this scheme is based on our boundary schemes [Huang and Yong, J. Comput. Phys. 300, 70 (2015)] for Robin boundary conditions on straight or curved boundaries. It gives second-order accuracy for straight interfaces and first-order accuracy for curved ones. In addition, the new scheme inherits the advantage of the boundary schemes in which only the current lattice nodes are involved. Such an interfacial scheme is highly desirable for problems with complex geometries or in porous media. The interfacial scheme is numerically validated with several examples. The results show the utility of the constructed scheme and very well support our theoretical predications.

In a recent paper, Arita et al. [Phys. Rev. E 90, 052108 (2014)] consider the transport properties of a class of generalized exclusion processes. Analytical expressions for the transport-diffusion coefficient are derived by ignoring correlations. It is claimed that these expressions become exact in the hydrodynamic limit. In this Comment, we point out that (i) the influence of correlations upon the diffusion does not vanish in the hydrodynamic limit, and (ii) the expressions for the self- and transport diffusion derived by Arita et al. are special cases of results derived in Becker et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 110601 (2013)].

We perform discrete element simulations of homogeneous shearing of frictionless cylinders and show that the particles are characterized by orientational order and form a granular liquid crystal. For elongated and flat cylinders, the alignment is in the plane of shearing, while cylinders having an aspect ratio equal to 1 and 0.8 show no orientational order. We show that the particle pressure is insensitive to the cylinder aspect ratio and well predicted by the kinetic theory of granular gases, with a singularity in the radial distribution function at contact different from that for frictionless spheres. The numerical results quantitatively agree with physical experiments on different geometries. The particle shear stress is affected by orientational anisotropy. We postulate that, for frictionless cylinders, the viscosity is roughly due to the motion of the orientationally disordered fraction of the particles, and show that it is proportional, through the order parameter, to the expression of kinetic theory. Finally, we suggest that the orientational order is the result of the competing effects of the shear rate, which induces alignment, and the granular temperature, which ramdomizes.

The second law of thermodynamics, formulated as an ultimate bound on the maximum extractable work, has been rigorously derived in multiple scenarios. However, the unavoidable limitations that emerge due to the lack of control on small systems are often disregarded when deriving such bounds, which is specifically important in the context of quantum thermodynamics. Here we study the maximum extractable work with limited control over the working system and its interaction with the heat bath. We derive a general second law when the set of accessible Hamiltonians of the working system is arbitrarily restricted. We then apply our bound to particular scenarios that are important in realistic implementations: limitations on the maximum energy gap and local control over many-body systems. We hence demonstrate in what precise way the lack of control affects the second law. In particular, contrary to the unrestricted case, we show that the optimal work extraction is not achieved by simple thermal contacts. Our results not only generalize the second law to scenarios of practical relevance, but also take first steps in the direction of local thermodynamics.

We experimentally investigate the dynamical regimes of a laser diode subject to external optical feedback in light of extreme-event (EE) analysis. We observe EEs in the low-frequency fluctuations (LFFs) regime. This number decreases to negligible values when the laser transitions towards fully developed coherence collapse as the injection current is increased. Moreover, we show that EEs observed in the LFF regime are linked to high-frequency pulsing events observed after a power dropout. Finally, we prove experimentally that the observation of EEs in the LFF regimes is robust to changes in operational parameters.

We study the influence of risk diversification on cascading failures in weighted complex networks, where weighted directed links represent exposures between nodes. These weights result from different diversification strategies and their adjustment allows us to reduce systemic risk significantly by topological means. As an example, we contrast a classical exposure diversification (ED) approach with a damage diversification (DD) variant. The latter reduces the loss that the failure of high degree nodes generally inflict to their network neighbors and thus hampers the cascade amplification. To quantify the final cascade size and obtain our results, we develop a branching process approximation taking into account that inflicted losses cannot only depend on properties of the exposed, but also of the failing node. This analytic extension is a natural consequence of the paradigm shift from individual to system safety. To deepen our understanding of the cascade process, we complement this systemic perspective by a mesoscopic one: an analysis of the failure risk of nodes dependent on their degree. Additionally, we ask for the role of these failures in the cascade amplification.

The critical role that biodiversity plays in ecosystem functioning has motivated many studies of the mechanisms that sustain biodiversity, a notable example being cyclic competition. We extend existing models of communities with cyclic competition by incorporating variable community evenness and resource dependence in demographic processes, two features that have generally been neglected. In this way, we align previous approaches more closely with real-world microbial ecosystems. We demonstrate the existence of a trade-off between increasing biomass production and maintaining biodiversity. This supports experimental observations of a net negative biodiversity effect on biomass productivity, due to competition effects suffered by highly productive species in diverse communities. Our results also support the important role assigned by microbial ecologists to evenness in maintaining ecosystem stability, thus far largely overlooked in in silico approaches.