The regime transitions of granular flow in a model shear cell are investigated numerically with a stress-controlled boundary condition. The correlations between the elastically and kinetically scaled stresses and the packing fraction are examined, and two packing fractions (0.58 and 0.50) are identified for the quasistatic to intermediate and intermediate to inertial regime transitions. The profiles and structures of contact networks and force chains among particles in different flow regimes are investigated. It is shown that the connectivity (coordination number) among particles and the homogeneity in the shear flow increase as the system goes through the inertial, intermediate, and then quasistatic regimes, and there is only little variation in the internal structure after the system has entered the quasistatic regime. Short-range force chains start to appear in the inertial regime, which also depend on the magnitude of the shear rate. The percolation of system-spanning force chains through the whole system is a characteristic of the onset of the quasistatic regime, which happens at a packing fraction that is close to the glass transition, i.e., about random loose packing (0.58) but far below the isotropic quasistatic (athermal) jamming packing fraction of random close packing (0.64). The tails of the probability density distribution $P$($f$) of the scaled normal contact forces for the flows in different regimes are quantified by a stretched exponential $P\left(f\right)=\exp (-c{f}^n)$ with a remarkable finding that $n$ ∼ 1.1 may be a potential demarcation point separating the quasistatic regime and the inertial or intermediate regimes.

The dynamical behavior of polystyrene-grafted silica nanoparticles dispersed in an atactic polystyrene matrix was studied using x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. The time-autocorrelation functions were subjected to fitting analyses based on continuous-time random walk models. The nanoparticles exhibited non-Brownian behavior, and as the temperature increased, the crossover from hyperdiffusion to subdiffusion occurred at 1.25$T_{\mathrm{g}}$, where $T_{\mathrm{g}}$ is the glass transition temperature of the matrix polystyrene. Hyperdiffusive behavior is caused by the dynamical heterogeneity of the polymer matrix associated with the glass transition. When the temperature was higher than 1.25$T_{\mathrm{g}}$, the interaction of the grafted polymers with the polymer matrix became relatively significant, and caused a dramatic change in the dynamical behavior of the nanoparticles.

The phenomenon of coherent energetic pulse propagation in exciton-phonon molecular chains such as $\alpha$-helix protein is studied using an ODE system model of Davydov-Scott type, both with numerical studies using a new unconditionally stable fourth-order accurate energy-momentum conserving time discretization and with analytical explanation of the main numerical observations. Impulsive initial data associated with initial excitation of a single amide-I vibration by the energy released by ATP hydrolysis are used as well as the best current estimates of physical parameter values. In contrast to previous studies based on a proposed long-wave approximation by the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation and focusing on initial data resembling the soliton solutions of that equation, the results here instead lead to approximation by the third derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation, giving a far better fit to observed behavior. A good part of the behavior is indeed explained well by the linear part of that equation, the Airy PDE, while other significant features do not fit any PDE approximation but are instead explained well by a linearized analysis of the ODE system. A convenient method is described for construction of the highly stable, accurate conservative time discretizations used, with proof of its desirable properties for a large class of Hamiltonian systems, including a variety of molecular models.

A recently proposed ternary mixture model is used to predict fluctuation domain lifetimes in the one phase region. The membrane is made of saturated, unsaturated, and hybrid lipids that have one saturated and one unsaturated hydrocarbon chain. The hybrid lipid is a natural linactant which can reduce the packing incompatibility between saturated and unsaturated lipids. The fluctuation lifetimes are predicted as a function of the hybrid lipid fraction and the fluctuation domain size. These lifetimes can be increased by up to three orders of magnitude compared to the case of no hybrids. With hybrid, small length scale fluctuations have sizable amplitudes even close to the critical temperature and, hence, benefit from enhanced critical slowing down. The increase in lifetime is particularly important for nanometer scale fluctuation domains where the hybrid orientation and the other lipids composition are highly coupled.

In this paper we investigate the connection between quantum walks and graph symmetries. We begin by designing an experiment that allows us to analyze the behavior of the quantum walks on the graph without causing the wave function collapse. To achieve this, we base our analysis on the recently introduced quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence. In particular, we show that the quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence between the evolution of two quantum walks with suitably defined initial states is maximum when the graph presents symmetries. Hence, we assign to each pair of nodes of the graph a value of the divergence, and we average over all pairs of nodes to characterize the degree of symmetry possessed by a graph.

Systems with long range interactions present generically the formation of quasistationary long-lived nonequilibrium states. These states relax to Boltzmann equilibrium following a dynamics which is not well understood. In this paper we study this process in two-dimensional inhomogeneous self-gravitating systems. Using the Chandrasekhar—or local—approximation we write a simple approximate kinetic equation for the relaxation process, obtaining a Fokker-Planck equation for the velocity distribution with explicit analytical diffusion coefficients. Performing molecular dynamics simulations and comparing them with the evolution predicted by the Fokker-Planck equation, we observe a good agreement with the model for all the duration of the relaxation, from the formation of the quasistationary state to thermal equilibrium. We observe however an overestimate or underestimate of the relaxation rate of the particles with the slower or larger velocities, respectively. It is due to systematic errors in estimating the velocities of the particles at the moment of the collisions, inherent to the Chandrasekhar approximation when applied to inhomogeneous systems. Theory and simulations give a scaling of the relaxation time proportional to the number of particles in the system.

Long range dewetting forces acting across thin films, such as the fundamental van der Waals interactions, may drive the formation of large clusters (tall multilayer islands) and pits, observed in thin films of diverse materials such as polymers, liquid crystals, and metals. In this study we further develop the methodology of the nonequilibrium statistical mechanics of thin films coarsening within continuum interface dynamics model incorporating long range dewetting interactions. The theoretical test bench model considered here is a generalization of the classical Mullins model for the dynamics of solid film surfaces. By analytic arguments and simulations of the model, we study the coarsening growth laws of clusters formed in thin films due to the dewetting interactions. The ultimate cluster growth scaling laws at long times are strongly universal: Short and long range dewetting interactions yield the same coarsening exponents. However, long range dewetting interactions, such as the van der Waals forces, introduce a distinct long lasting early time scaling behavior characterized by a slow growth of the cluster height/lateral size aspect ratio (i.e., a time-dependent Young angle) and by effective coarsening exponents that depend on cluster size. In this study, we develop a theory capable of analytically calculating these effective size-dependent coarsening exponents characterizing the cluster growth in the early time regime. Such a pronounced early time scaling behavior has been indeed seen in experiments; however, its physical origin has remained elusive to this date. Our theory attributes these observed phenomena to ubiquitous long range dewetting interactions acting across thin solid and liquid films. Our results are also applicable to cluster growth in initially very thin fluid films, formed by depositing a few monolayers or by a submonolayer deposition. Under this condition, the dominant coarsening mechanism is diffusive intercluster mass transport while the cluster coalescence plays a minor role, both in solid and in fluid films.

Distributions of time averaged observables are investigated using deterministic maps with $N$ indifferent fixed points and $N$-state continuous time random walk processes associated with them. In a weakly chaotic phase, namely when separation of trajectories is subexponential, maps are characterized by an infinite invariant density. We find that the infinite density can be used to calculate the distribution of time averages of integrable observables with a formula recently obtained by Rebenshtok and Barkai. As an example we calculate distributions of the average position of the particle and average occupation fractions. Our work provides the distributional limit theorem for time averages for a wide class of nonintegrable observables with respect to the infinite invariant density, in other words it deals with the situation where the Darling-Kac-Aaronson theorem does not hold.

The nonlinear index of refraction ($n_2$) and the two-photon absorption coefficient ($\beta$) of water-based ferrofluids made of magnetite nanocrystals of different sizes and with different coatings have been measured through the $Z$-scan technique, with ultrashort (femtoseconds) laser pulses. Their third-order susceptibility is calculated from the values of $n_2$ and $\beta$. The influence of different particles' coatings and sizes on these nonlinear optical properties are investigated. The values of $n_2$ and $\beta$ depend more significantly on the nanoparticles' size than on the particular coating. We observe a decrease of $\beta$ as the nanoparticles' diameters decrease, although the optical gap is found to be the same for all samples. The results are interpreted considering modifications in the electronic orbital shape due to the particles' nanosize effect.

We study the continuum limit of a family of kinetic Monte Carlo models of crystal surface relaxation that includes both the solid-on-solid and discrete Gaussian models. With computational experiments and theoretical arguments we are able to derive several partial differential equation limits identified (or nearly identified) in previous studies and to clarify the correct choice of surface tension appearing in the PDE and the correct scaling regime giving rise to each PDE. We also provide preliminary computational investigations of a number of interesting qualitative features of the large-scale behavior of the models.

We study the pore-scale dynamics of salt precipitation in three-dimensional drying porous media, utilizing high resolution x-ray microtomography and scanning electron microscopy. Our results illustrate that the salt precipitation patterns in drying porous media are nonuniform, manifesting the influence of the spatial distribution of pore sizes on the dynamics of salt crystallization and formation of discrete efflorescence. Results reveal that during stage-1 evaporation from saline porous media, the salt precipitation rate initially increases which is followed by a constant precipitation rate. This non-linear behaviour is attributed to the preferential liquid vaporization and salt precipitation in finer pores located at the surface of the porous medium contributing in evaporation according to the pore sizes. We also show that, contrary to common practice, the macroscopic convection-diffusion equation cannot provide accurate predictions for the dynamics of salt precipitation, at least at the early stages, due to the microscale heterogeneity of evaporation sites at the surface that results in salt precipitation exclusively in the finer pores.

The nonlinear Penner external interaction is introduced and studied in the random matrix model of homo RNA. A numerical technique is developed to study the partition function, and a general formula is obtained for all lengths. The genus distribution function for the system is obtained, plotted, and compared with the genus distribution for the real RNA structures found from the protein databank. The genus distribution shows that the nonlinear interaction favors the formation of low genus structures and matches the result for real RNA structures. The distribution of structure with temperature suggests that nonlinear interaction is biased toward the planar structures. The variation of chemical potential with temperature and interaction strength indicates the presence of additional molecules in the system other than the magnesium ions and possibly represents a phase transition. The specific heat has a bump and its derivatives shows a double-peak behavior at a particular temperature. On analyzing the specific heat and derivatives for each genus separately, the planar structure (genus zero) is shown to contribute the most to the bump and double peak. This observation in the nonlinear model is similar to that observed in the unfolding experiments on RNA.

We study a general car-following model of traffic flow on an infinitely long single-lane road, which assumes that a car's acceleration depends on time-delayed values of its own speed, the headway between it and the car ahead, and the rate of change of headway, but makes minimal assumptions about the functional form of that dependence. We present a detailed characterization of the onset of linear instability; in particular we find a specific limit on the delay time below which the marginal wave number at the onset of instability is zero, and another specific limit on the delay time above which steady flow is always unstable. Crucially, the threshold of absolute stability generally does not coincide with an inflection point of the steady-state velocity function. When the marginal perturbation at onset has wave number 0, we show that Burgers and Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equations can be derived under the usual assumptions, and that corrections to the KdV equation “select” a single member of the one-parameter set of its one-soliton solutions by driving a slow evolution of the soliton parameter. While in previous models this selected soliton has always marked the threshold of a finite-amplitude instability of linearly stable steady flow, we find that it can alternatively be a stable, small-amplitude jam that occurs when steady flow is linearly unstable. The model reduces to the usual modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation only in the special situation that the threshold of absolute stability coincides with an inflection point of the steady-state velocity function; in general, near the threshold of absolute stability the model reduces instead to a KdV equation in the regime of small solitons, while near an inflection point it reduces to a Hayakawa-Nakanishi equation. Like the mKdV equation, the Hayakawa-Nakanishi equation admits a continuous family of kink solutions, and the selection criterion arising from the corrections to this equation can be written down explicitly.

This paper presents an approach to the modeling of degree-degree correlation in complex networks. Thus, a simple function, Δ($k$′, $k$), describing specific degree-to-degree correlations is considered. The function is well suited to graphically depict assortative and disassortative variations within networks. To quantify degree correlation variations, the joint probability distribution between nodes with arbitrary degrees, $P$($k$′, $k$), is used. Introduction of the end-degree probability function as a basic variable allows using group theory to derive mathematical models for $P$($k$′, $k$). In this form, an expression, representing a family of seven models, is constructed with the needed normalization conditions. Applied to Δ($k$′, $k$), this expression predicts a nonuniform distribution of degree correlation in networks, organized in two assortative and two disassortative zones. This structure is actually observed in a set of four modeled, technological, social, and biological networks. A regression study performed on 15 actual networks shows that the model describes quantitatively degree-degree correlation variations.

The stability properties of an injected quantum cascade laser are investigated analytically on the basis of current estimates of the laser parameters. We show that in addition to stable locking, Hopf bifurcations leading to pulsating intensities are possible. We discuss the stability diagrams in terms of the detuning and the injection rate for different values of the linewidth enhancement factor. The analysis indicates domains of coexistence between two stable steady states (bistability) or between a stable steady state and stable periodic oscillations. All predictions are verified numerically by determining bifurcation diagrams from the laser rate equations.

In this paper we clarify the role of Markstein diffusivity, which is the product of the planar laminar flame speed and the Markstein length, on the turbulent flame speed and its scaling, based on experimental measurements on constant-pressure expanding turbulent flames. Turbulent flame propagation data are presented for premixed flames of mixtures of hydrogen, methane, ethylene, $n$-butane, and dimethyl ether with air, in near-isotropic turbulence in a dual-chamber, fan-stirred vessel. For each individual fuel-air mixture presented in this work and the recently published iso-octane data from Leeds, normalized turbulent flame speed data of individual fuel-air mixtures approximately follow a ${\mathrm{Re}}_{T,f}^{0.5}$ scaling, for which the average radius is the length scale and thermal diffusivity is the transport property of the turbulence Reynolds number. At a given ${\mathrm{Re}}_{T,f}^{}$, it is experimentally observed that the normalized turbulent flame speed decreases with increasing Markstein number, which could be explained by considering Markstein diffusivity as the leading dissipation mechanism for the large wave number flame surface fluctuations. Consequently, by replacing thermal diffusivity with the Markstein diffusivity in the turbulence Reynolds number definition above, it is found that normalized turbulent flame speeds could be scaled by ${\mathrm{Re}}_{T,M}^{0.5}$ irrespective of the fuel, equivalence ratio, pressure, and turbulence intensity for positive Markstein number flames.

Acoustic cavitation-induced microbubbles in a cylindrical resonator filled with water tend to concentrate into ring patterns due to the cylindrical geometry of the system. The shape of these ring patterns is directly linked to the Bjerknes force distribution in the resonator. Experimental observations showed that cavitation bubbles located in the vicinity of this ring may exhibit a spiraling behavior around the pressure nodal line. This spiraling phenomenon is numerically studied, the conditions for which a single cavitation bubble follows an orbital trajectory are established, and the influences of the acoustic pressure amplitude and the initial bubble radius are investigated.

In this work, proton and deuteron stopping due to free and bound electrons in partially ionized plasma targets is evaluated. The stopping of target free electrons is calculated using the dielectric formalism, well described in our previous works. In the case of target bound electrons, a short expression to calculate their contribution to the stopping is used, where mean excitation energies are obtained by means of the Hartree-Fock method. Experiments with different kinds of plasmas are analyzed. For LiH plasma, estimated plasma stopping fits experimental data very well, within the error bars, recognizing the well-known enhanced plasma stopping. In the case of CH${}_2$ plasma, we obtain, from estimated ionization, that total stopping power increases when target electron density does. Our estimations are very similar to experimental data which show the same behavior with target free and bound electron density. Finally, in Al plasma, we compare directly our calculations with experimental data finding a very close agreement, where both stoppings have the same dependence on target ionicity. All these comparisons verify our theoretical model which estimates the proton or deuteron energy loss in partially ionized plasmas.

Most works on plasma-wall interaction predict that with strong electron emission, a nonmonotonic “space-charge-limited” (SCL) sheath forms where the plasma potential is positive relative to the wall. We show that a fundamentally different sheath structure is possible where the potential monotonically increases toward a positively charged wall that is shielded by a single layer of negative charge. No ion-accelerating presheath exists in the plasma and the ion wall flux is zero. An analytical solution of the “inverse sheath” regime is demonstrated for a general plasma-wall system where the plasma electrons and emitted electrons are Maxwellian with different temperatures. Implications of the inverse sheath effect are that (a) the plasma potential is negative, (b) ion sputtering vanishes, (c) no charge is lost at the wall, and (d) the electron energy flux is thermal. To test empirically what type of sheath structure forms under strong emission, a full plasma bounded by strongly emitting walls is simulated. It is found that inverse sheaths form at the walls and ions are confined in the plasma. This result differs from past particle-in-cell simulation studies of emission which contain an artificial “source sheath” that accelerates ions to the wall, leading to a SCL sheath at high emission intensity.