We formulate the general approach based on the Lindblad equation to calculate the full counting statistics of work and heat produced by driven quantum systems weakly coupled with a Markovian thermal bath. The approach can be applied to a wide class of dissipative quantum systems driven by an arbitrary force protocol. We show the validity of general fluctuation relations and consider several generic examples. The possibilities of using calorimetric measurements to test the presence of coherence and entanglement in the open quantum systems are discussed.

We explore a transverse-field Ising model that exhibits both spontaneous symmetry breaking and eigenstate thermalization. Within its ferromagnetic phase, the exact eigenstates of the Hamiltonian of any large but finite-sized system are all Schrödinger cat states: superpositions of states with “up” and “down” spontaneous magnetization. This model exhibits two dynamical phase transitions within its ferromagnetic phase: In the lowest-temperature phase the magnetization can macroscopically oscillate between up and down. The relaxation of the magnetization is always overdamped in the remainder of the ferromagnetic phase, which is divided into phases where the system thermally activates itself over the barrier between the up and down states, and where it quantum tunnels.

In 2 × 2 prisoner's dilemma games, network reciprocity is one mechanism for adding social viscosity, which leads to cooperative equilibrium. This study introduced an intriguing framework for the strategy update rule that allows any combination of a purely deterministic method, imitation max (IM), and a purely probabilistic one, pairwise Fermi (Fermi-PW). A series of simulations covering the whole range from IM to Fermi-PW reveals that, as a general tendency, the larger fractions of stochastic updating reduce network reciprocity, so long as the underlying lattice contains no noise in the degree of distribution. However, a small amount of stochastic flavor added to an otherwise perfectly deterministic update rule was actually found to enhance network reciprocity. This occurs because a subtle stochastic effect in the update rule improves the evolutionary trail in games having more stag-hunt-type dilemmas, although the same stochastic effect degenerates evolutionary trails in games having more chicken-type dilemmas. We explain these effects by dividing evolutionary trails into the enduring and expanding periods defined by Shigaki et al. [Phys. Rev. E 86, 031141 (2012)].

We present a molecular dynamics simulation study of the possibility of performing a microrheological analysis of a polymer melt by following the Brownian motion of a dispersed nanoparticle. We study the influence of the size of the nanoparticle, taken to be comparable to the radius of gyration of the chains, and of the strength of the interaction between the nanoparticle and the repeat units of the polymer chains. The influence of the presence of the nanoparticle on the melt mechanical behavior is analyzed, and the importance of effects of different levels of hydrodynamic analysis on the frequency-dependent dynamic shear modulus derived from the particle motion is worked out.

Cristae, folded subcompartments of the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM), have complex and dynamic morphologies. Since cristae are the major site of adenosine triphosphate synthesis, morphological changes of cristae have been studied in relation to functional states of mitochondria. In this sense, investigating the functional and structural significance of cristae may be critical for understanding progressive mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the detailed mechanisms of the formation and regulation of these cristae structures have not been fully elucidated. Among the hypotheses concerning the regulation of cristae morphologies, we exclusively investigate the effects of the local $p\mathrm{H}$ gradient on the cristae morphologies by using a numerical model. An area-difference induced curvature of the membrane is modeled as a function of local $p\mathrm{H}$. This curvature is then applied to the finite element model of a closed lipid bilayer in order to find the energetically favorable membrane configuration. From this study, we substantiate the hypothesis that a tubular crista structure can be formed and regulated by the local $p\mathrm{H}$ gradient. Through the simulations with various initial conditions, we further demonstrate that the diameter of a crista is mainly determined by the local $p\mathrm{H}$ gradient, and the energetically favorable direction of crista growth is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of a mitochondrion. Finally, the simulation results at the mitochondrial scale suggest that the cristae membrane may have a lower local $p\mathrm{H}$ value and/or a higher cardiolipin composition than the other parts of the IMM.

We have constructed a dark-bright $N$-soliton solution with $4N+3$ real parameters for the physically interesting system of mixed coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. Using this as well as an asymptotic analysis we have investigated the interaction between dark-bright vector solitons. Each colliding dark-bright one-soliton at the asymptotic limits includes more coupling parameters not only in the polarization vector but also in the amplitude part. Our present solution generalizes the dark-bright soliton in the literature with parametric constraints. By exploiting the role of such coupling parameters we are able to control certain interaction effects, namely beating, breathing, bouncing, attraction, jumping, etc., without affecting other soliton parameters. Particularly, the results of the interactions between the bound state dark-bright vector solitons reveal oscillations in their amplitudes under certain parametric choices. A similar kind of effect was also observed experimentally in the BECs. We have also characterized the solutions with complicated structure and nonobvious wrinkle to define polarization vector, envelope speed, envelope width, envelope amplitude, grayness, and complex modulation. It is interesting to identify that the polarization vector of the dark-bright one-soliton evolves on a spherical surface instead of a hyperboloid surface as in the bright-bright case of the mixed coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations.

We investigate the radiation force on a microbubble due to the photoacoustic wave which is generated by using a pulsed laser. In particular, we focus on the dependence of pulsed laser parameters on the radiation force. In order to do so, we first obtain a new and comprehensive analytical solution to the photoacoustic wave equation based on the Fourier transform for various absorption profiles. Then, we write an expression of the radiation force containing explicit laser parameters, pulse duration, and beamwidth of the laser. Furthermore, we calculate the primary radiation force acting on a microbubble. We show that laser parameters and the position of the microbubble relative to a photoacoustic source have a considerable effect on the primary radiation force. By means of recent developments in laser technologies that render tunability of pulse duration and repetition frequency possible, an adjustable radiation force can be applied to microbubbles. High spatial control of applied force is ensured on account of smaller focal spots achievable by focused optics. In this context, conventional piezoelectric acoustic source applications could be surpassed. In addition, it is possible to increase the radiation force by making source wavelength with the absorption peak of absorber concurrent. The application of photoacoustic radiation force can open a cache of opportunities such as manipulation of microbubbles used as contrast agents and as carrier vehicles for drugs and genes with a desired force along with in vivo applications.

We investigate a generic, parallel replica-exchange framework for Monte Carlo simulations based on the Wang-Landau method. To demonstrate its advantages and general applicability for massively parallel simulations of complex systems, we apply it to lattice spin models, the self-assembly process in amphiphilic solutions, and the adsorption of molecules on surfaces. While of general current interest, the latter phenomena are challenging to study computationally because of multiple structural transitions occurring over a broad temperature range. We show how the parallel framework facilitates simulations of such processes and, without any loss of accuracy or precision, gives a significant speedup and allows for the study of much larger systems and much wider temperature ranges than possible with single-walker methods.

We study the interaction of quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) dissipative solitons (DSs). Starting with quasi-1D solutions of the cubic-quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau (CGL) equation in their temporally asymptotic state as the initial condition, we find, as a function of the approach velocity and the real part of the cubic interaction of the two counterpropagating envelopes: interpenetration, one compound state made of both envelopes or two compound states. For the latter class both envelopes show DSs superposed at two different locations. The stability of this class of compound states is traced back to the quasilinear growth rate associated with the coupled system. We show that this mechanism also works for 1D coupled cubic-quintic CGL equations. For quasi-1D states that are not in their asymptotic state before the collision, a breakup along the crest can be observed, leading to nonunique results after the collision of quasi-1D states.

We explore the dependence of the performance bounds of heat engines and refrigerators on the initial quantum state and the subsequent evolution of their piston, modeled by a quantized harmonic oscillator. Our goal is to provide a fully quantized treatment of self-contained (autonomous) heat machines, as opposed to their prevailing semiclassical description that consists of a quantum system alternately coupled to a hot or a cold heat bath and parametrically driven by a classical time-dependent piston or field. Here, by contrast, there is no external time-dependent driving. Instead, the evolution is caused by the stationary simultaneous interaction of two heat baths (having distinct spectra and temperatures) with a single two-level system that is in turn coupled to the quantum piston. The fully quantized treatment we put forward allows us to investigate work extraction and refrigeration by the tools of quantum-optical amplifier and dissipation theory, particularly, by the analysis of amplified or dissipated phase-plane quasiprobability distributions. Our main insight is that quantum states may be thermodynamic resources and can provide a powerful handle, or control, on the efficiency of the heat machine. In particular, a piston initialized in a coherent state can cause the engine to produce work at an efficiency above the Carnot bound in the linear amplification regime. In the refrigeration regime, the coefficient of performance can transgress the Carnot bound if the piston is initialized in a Fock state. The piston may be realized by a vibrational mode, as in nanomechanical setups, or an electromagnetic field mode, as in cavity-based scenarios.

Packings of frictionless athermal particles that interact only when they overlap experience a jamming transition as a function of packing density. Such packings provide the foundation for the theory of jamming. This theory rests on the observation that, despite the multitude of disordered configurations, the mechanical response to linear order depends only on the distance to the transition. We investigate the validity and utility of such measurements that invoke the harmonic approximation and show that, despite particles coming in and out of contact, there is a well-defined linear regime in the thermodynamic limit.

In this paper, we experimentally investigated the dynamic spreading of liquid drops on solid surfaces. Drop of glycerol water mixtures and pure water that have comparable surface tensions (62.3–72.8 mN/m) but different viscosities (1.0–60.1 cP) were used. The size of the drops was 0.5–1.2 mm. Solid surfaces with different lyophilic and lyophobic coatings (equilibrium contact angle ${\theta }_{\mathrm{eq}}$ of 0°–112°) were used to study the effect of surface wettability. We show that surface wettability and liquid viscosity influence wetting dynamics and affect either the coefficient or the exponent of the power law that describes the growth of the wetting radius. In the early inertial wetting regime, the coefficient of the wetting power law increases with surface wettability but decreases with liquid viscosity. In contrast, the exponent of the power law does only depend on surface wettability as also reported in literature. It was further found that surface wettability does not affect the duration of inertial wetting, whereas the viscosity of the liquid does. For low viscosity liquids, the duration of inertial wetting corresponds to the time of capillary wave propagation, which can be determined by Lamb's drop oscillation model for inviscid liquids. For relatively high viscosity liquids, the inertial wetting time increases with liquid viscosity, which may due to the viscous damping of the surface capillary waves. Furthermore, we observed a viscous wetting regime only on surfaces with an equilibrium contact angle ${\theta }_{\mathrm{eq}}$ smaller than a critical angle ${\theta }_c$ depending on viscosity. A scaling analysis based on Navier-Stokes equations is presented at the end, and the predicted ${\theta }_c$ matches with experimental observations without any additional fitting parameters.

For the estimation of transition points of finite elastic, flexible polymers with chain lengths from 13 to 309 monomers, we compare systematically transition temperatures obtained by the Fisher partition function zeros approach with recent results from microcanonical inflection-point analysis. These methods rely on accurate numerical estimates of the density of states, which have been obtained by advanced multicanonical Monte Carlo sampling techniques. Both the Fisher zeros method and microcanonical inflection-point analysis yield very similar results and enable the unique identification of transition points in finite systems, which is typically impossible in the conventional canonical analysis of thermodynamic quantities.

We shed light on the threshold for spike initiation in two-dimensional neuron models. A threshold criterion that depends on both the membrane voltage and the recovery variable is proposed. This approach provides a simple and unified framework that accounts for numerous voltage threshold properties including adaptation, variability, and time-dependent dynamics. In addition, neural features such as accommodation, inhibition-induced spike, and postinhibitory (-excitatory) facilitation are the direct consequences of the existence of a threshold curve. Implications for neural modeling are also discussed.

When an epidemic spreads in a population, individuals may adaptively change the structure of their social contact network to reduce risk of infection. Here we study the spread of an epidemic on an adaptive network with community structure. We model two communities with different average degrees. The disease model is susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS), and adaptation is rewiring of links between susceptibles and infectives. Locations of rewired links are selected so that the community structure will be preserved if susceptible-infective links are homogeneously distributed. The bifurcation structure is obtained, and a mean field model is developed that accurately predicts the steady-state behavior of the system. In a static network, weakly connected heterogeneous communities can have significantly different infection levels. In contrast, adaptation promotes similar infection levels and alters the network structure so that communities have more similar average degrees. We estimate the time for network restructuring to allow infection incursion from one community to another and show that it is inversely proportional to the number of cross-links between communities. In extremely heterogeneous systems, periodic oscillations in infection level can occur due to repeated infection incursions.

Network self-similarity or fractality are widely accepted as an important topological property of metabolic networks; however, recent studies cast doubt on the reality of self-similarity in the networks. Therefore, we perform a comprehensive evaluation of metabolic network fractality using a box-covering method with an earlier version and the latest version of metabolic networks and demonstrate that the latest metabolic networks are almost self-dissimilar, while the earlier ones are fractal, as reported in a number of previous studies. This result may be because the networks were randomized because of an increase in network density due to database updates, suggesting that the previously observed network fractality was due to a lack of available data on metabolic reactions. This finding may not entirely discount the importance of self-similarity of metabolic networks. Rather, it highlights the need for a more suitable definition of network fractality and a more careful examination of self-similarity of metabolic networks.

Using a geographical scale-free network to describe relations between people in a city, we explain both superlinear and sublinear allometric scaling of urban indicators that quantify activities or performances of the city. The urban indicator $Y\left(N\right)$ of a city with the population size $N$ is analytically calculated by summing up all individual activities produced by person-to-person relationships. Our results show that the urban indicator scales superlinearly with the population, namely, $Y\left(N\right)\propto N^{\beta }$ with $\beta >1$, if $Y\left(N\right)$ represents a creative productivity and the indicator scales sublinearly $\left(\beta <1\right)$ if $Y\left(N\right)$ is related to the degree of infrastructure development. These results coincide with allometric scaling observed in real-world urban indicators. We also show how the scaling exponent $\beta$ depends on the strength of the geographical constraint in the network formation.

We investigate the nonreciprocal diodelike behavior of a dimer with an asymmetric on-site potential and a saturable nonlinearity. The dimer is coupled to linear side chains. The spectra of transmission and the rectifying factor are analytically obtained using a backward iteration of the set of discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations used to model the wave propagation through the nonlinear dimer. We show that the windows of bistable behavior leading to a pronounced nonreciprocal diodelike transmission become wider and displaced to higher input field intensities as the saturation coefficient increases. Further, saturation of the nonlinear response has opposite impacts on the rectifying action over short- and long-wavelength input signals within the second bistability window. In the first window, the rectifying action is not compromised by the saturation, thus showing that a weak contribution of high-order susceptibilities to the nonlinear response can improve the efficiency of the nonreciprocal transmission. The rectifying action of a dimer with an asymmetric nonlinearity is also discussed.

Virial coefficients $B_n$ of three-dimensional hard spheres are reported for $n=5$ to 11, with precision exceeding that presently available in the literature. Calculations are performed using the recursive method due to Wheatley, and a binning approach is proposed to allow more flexibility in where computational effort is directed in the calculations. We highlight the difficulty as a general measure that quantifies performance of an algorithm that computes a stochastic average and show how it can be used as the basis for optimizing such calculations.