Indirect reciprocity is one of the main mechanisms to explain the emergence and sustainment of altruism in societies. The standard approach to indirect reciprocity is reputation models. These are games in which players base their decisions on their opponent's reputation gained in past interactions with other players (moral assessment). The combination of actions and moral assessment leads to a large diversity of strategies; thus determining the stability of any of them against invasions by all the others is a difficult task. We use a variant of a previously introduced reputation-based model that let us systematically analyze all these invasions and determine which ones are successful. Accordingly, we are able to identify the third-order strategies (those which, apart from the action, judge considering both the reputation of the donor and that of the recipient) that are evolutionarily stable. Our results reveal that if a strategy resists the invasion of any other one sharing its same moral assessment, it can resist the invasion of any other strategy. However, if actions are not always witnessed, cheaters (i.e., individuals with a probability of defecting regardless of the opponent's reputation) have a chance to defeat the stable strategies for some choices of the probabilities of cheating and of being witnessed. Remarkably, by analyzing this issue with adaptive dynamics we find that whether an honest population resists the invasion of cheaters is determined by a Hamilton-like rule, with the probability that the cheat is discovered playing the role of the relatedness parameter.

Record-breaking avalanches generated by the dynamics of several driven nonlinear threshold models are studied. Such systems are characterized by intermittent behavior, where a slow buildup of energy is punctuated by an abrupt release of energy through avalanche events, which usually follow scale-invariant statistics. From the simulations of these systems it is possible to extract sequences of record-breaking avalanches, where each subsequent record-breaking event is larger in magnitude than all previous events. In the present work, several cellular automata are analyzed, among them the sandpile model, the Manna model, the Olami-Feder-Christensen (OFC) model, and the forest-fire model to investigate the record-breaking statistics of model avalanches that exhibit temporal and spatial correlations. Several statistical measures of record-breaking events are derived analytically and confirmed through numerical simulations. The statistics of record-breaking avalanches for the four models are compared to those of record-breaking events extracted from the sequences of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables. It is found that the statistics of record-breaking avalanches for the above cellular automata exhibit behavior different from that observed for i.i.d. random variables, which in turn can be used to characterize complex spatiotemporal dynamics. The most pronounced deviations are observed in the case of the OFC model with a strong dependence on the conservation parameter of the model. This indicates that avalanches in the OFC model are not independent and exhibit spatiotemporal correlations.

We introduce a mechanism for generating higher-order rogue waves (HRWs) of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation: the progressive fusion and fission of $n$ degenerate breathers associated with a critical eigenvalue ${\lambda }_0$ creates an order-$n$ HRW. By adjusting the relative phase of the breathers in the interacting area, it is possible to obtain different types of HRWs. The value ${\lambda }_0$ is a zero point of an eigenfunction of the Lax pair of the NLS equation and it corresponds to the limit of the period of the breather tending to infinity. By employing this mechanism we prove two conjectures regarding the total number of peaks, as well as a decomposition rule in the circular pattern of an order-$n$ HRW.

Parametrically driven extended systems exhibit dissipative localized states. Analytical solutions of these states are characterized by a uniform phase and a bell-shaped modulus. Recently, a type of dissipative localized state with a nonuniform phase structure has been reported: the phase shielding solitons. Using the parametrically driven and damped nonlinear Schrödinger equation, we investigate the main properties of this kind of solution in one and two dimensions and develop an analytical description for its structure and dynamics. Numerical simulations are consistent with our analytical results, showing good agreement. A numerical exploration conducted in an anisotropic ferromagnetic system in one and two dimensions indicates the presence of phase shielding solitons. The structure of these dissipative solitons is well described also by our analytical results. The presence of corrective higher-order terms is relevant in the description of the observed phase dynamical behavior.

A complex plasma vertical oscillation experiment which modifies the bulk is presented. Spherical, micron-sized particles within a Coulomb crystal levitated in the sheath above the powered lower electrode in a GEC reference cell are perturbed using a probe attached to a Zyvex S100 Nanomanipulator. By oscillating the probe potential sinusoidally, particle motion is found to be asymmetric, exhibiting superharmonic response in one case. Using a simple electric field model for the plasma sheath, including a nonzero electric field at the sheath edge, dust particle charges are found by employing a balance of relevant forces and emission analysis. Adjusting the parameters of the electric field model allowed the change predicted in the levitation height to be compared with experiment. A discrete oscillator Green's function is applied using the derived force, which accurately predicts the particle's motion and allows the determination of the electric field at the sheath edge.

Motivated by experiments on splitting one-dimensional quasicondensates, we study the statistics of the work done by a quantum quench in a bosonic system. We discuss the general features of the probability distribution of the work and focus on its behavior at the lowest energy threshold, which develops an edge singularity. A formal connection between this probability distribution and the critical Casimir effect in thin classical films shows that certain features of the edge singularity are universal as the postquench gap tends to zero. Our results are quantitatively illustrated by an exact calculation for noninteracting bosonic systems. The effects of finite system size, dimensionality, and nonzero initial temperature are discussed in detail.

We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the evaporation of particle-laden droplets on a heated surface. The droplets are composed of a Lennard-Jones fluid containing rigid particles, which are spherical sections of an atomic lattice, and heating is controlled through the temperature of an atomistic substrate. We observe that sufficiently large (but still nanosized) particle-laden drops exhibit contact line pinning, measure the outward fluid flow field which advects particles to the drop rim, and find that the structure of the resulting aggregate varies with interparticle and droplet-wall interactions. The profile of the evaporative fluid flux is measured with and without particles present and is also found to be in qualitative but not quantitative agreement with earlier theory. The compatibility of the deposit patterns in simple nanoscale calculations and micron-scale experiments indicates that molecular simulation may be used to predict aggregate structure in evaporative growth processes.

Cooperative action of molecular motors is essential for many cellular processes. One possible regulator of motor coordination is the elasticity-mediated crosstalk (EMC) coupling between myosin II motors whose origin is the tensile stress that they collectively generate in actin filaments. Here, we use a statistical mechanical analysis to investigate the influence of the EMC effect on the sarcomere — the basic contractile unit of skeletal muscles. We demonstrate that the EMC effect leads to an increase in the attachment probability of motors located near the end of the sarcomere while simultaneously decreasing the attachment probability of the motors in the central part. Such a polarized attachment probability would impair the motors' ability to cooperate efficiently. Interestingly, this undesired phenomenon becomes significant only when the system size exceeds that of the sarcomere in skeletal muscles, which provides an explanation for the remarkable lack of sarcomere variability in vertebrates. Another phenomenon that we investigate is the recently observed increase in the duty ratio of the motors with the tension in muscle. We reveal that the celebrated Hill's equation for muscle contraction is very closely related to this observation.

We extend our previous study of scaling range properties performed for detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) [Physica A 392, 2384 (2013)] to other techniques of fluctuation analysis (FA). The new technique, called modified detrended moving average analysis (MDMA), is introduced, and its scaling range properties are examined and compared with those of detrended moving average analysis (DMA) and DFA. It is shown that contrary to DFA, DMA and MDMA techniques exhibit power law dependence of the scaling range with respect to the length of the searched signal and with respect to the accuracy $R^2$ of the fit to the considered scaling law imposed by DMA or MDMA methods. This power law dependence is satisfied for both uncorrelated and autocorrelated data. We find also a simple generalization of this power law relation for series with a different level of autocorrelations measured in terms of the Hurst exponent. Basic relations between scaling ranges for different techniques are also discussed. Our findings should be particularly useful for local FA in, e.g., econophysics, finances, or physiology, where the huge number of short time series has to be examined at once and wherever the preliminary check of the scaling range regime for each of the series separately is neither effective nor possible.

Percolation, the formation of a macroscopic connected component, is a key feature in the description of complex networks. The dynamical properties of a variety of systems can be understood in terms of percolation, including the robustness of power grids and information networks, the spreading of epidemics and forest fires, and the stability of gene regulatory networks. Recent studies have shown that if network edges are added “competitively” in undirected networks, the onset of percolation is abrupt or “explosive.” The unusual qualitative features of this phase transition have been the subject of much recent attention. Here we generalize this previously studied network growth process from undirected networks to directed networks and use finite-size scaling theory to find several scaling exponents. We find that this process is also characterized by a very rapid growth in the giant component, but that this growth is not as sudden as in undirected networks.

We investigate the structure and phase behavior of the Stockmayer fluid in the presence of nonuniform electric fields using molecular simulation. We find that an initially homogeneous vapor phase undergoes a local phase separation in a nonuniform field due to the combined effect of the field gradient and the fluid vapor-liquid equilibrium. This results in a high-density fluid condensing in the strong field region. The system polarization exhibits a strong field dependence due to the fluid condensation.

We use three-dimensional contact dynamics simulations to analyze the rheological properties of granular materials composed of rigid aggregates. The aggregates are made from four overlapping spheres and described by a nonconvexity parameter depending on the relative positions of the spheres. The macroscopic and microstructural properties of several sheared packings are analyzed as a function of the degree of nonconvexity of the aggregates. We find that the internal angle of friction increases with the nonconvexity. In contrast, the packing fraction first increases to a maximum value but declines as the nonconvexity increases further. At a high level of nonconvexity, the packings are looser but show a higher shear strength. At the microscopic scale, the fabric and force anisotropy, as well as the friction mobilization, are enhanced by multiple contacts between aggregates and interlocking, thus revealings the mechanical and geometrical origins of shear strength.

The recently developed nonequilibrium extension of the self-consistent generalized Langevin equation theory of irreversible relaxation [Ramírez-González and Medina-Noyola, Phys. Rev. E 82, 061503 (2010); Ramírez-González and Medina-Noyola, Phys. Rev. E 82, 061504 (2010)] is applied to the description of the irreversible process of equilibration and aging of a glass-forming soft-sphere liquid that follows a sudden temperature quench, within the constraint that the local mean particle density remains uniform and constant. For these particular conditions, this theory describes the nonequilibrium evolution of the static structure factor $S(k;t)$ and of the dynamic properties, such as the self-intermediate scattering function $F_S(k,\tau ;t)$, where $\tau$ is the correlation delay time and $t$ is the evolution or waiting time after the quench. Specific predictions are presented for the deepest quench (to zero temperature). The predicted evolution of the $\alpha$-relaxation time ${\tau }_{\alpha }\left(t\right)$ as a function of $t$ allows us to define the equilibration time $t^{eq}\left(\varphi \right)$, as the time after which ${\tau }_{\alpha }\left(t\right)$ has attained its equilibrium value ${\tau }_{\alpha }^{eq}\left(\varphi \right)$. It is predicted that both, $t^{eq}\left(\varphi \right)$ and ${\tau }_{\alpha }^{eq}\left(\varphi \right)$, diverge as $\varphi \to {\varphi }^{\left(a\right)}$, where ${\varphi }^{\left(a\right)}$ is the hard-sphere dynamic-arrest volume fraction ${\varphi }^{\left(a\right)}(\approx$$0.582)$, thus suggesting that the measurement of equilibrium properties at and above ${\varphi }^{\left(a\right)}$ is experimentally impossible. The theory also predicts that for fixed finite waiting times $t$, the plot of ${\tau }_{\alpha }(t;\varphi )$ as a function of $\varphi$ exhibits two regimes, corresponding to samples that have fully equilibrated within this waiting time $(\varphi \le {\varphi }^{\left(c\right)}\left(t\right))$, and to samples for which equilibration is not yet complete $(\varphi \ge {\varphi }^{\left(c\right)}\left(t\right))$. The crossover volume fraction ${\varphi }^{\left(c\right)}\left(t\right)$ increases with $t$ but saturates to the value ${\varphi }^{\left(a\right)}$.

We develop a comprehensive approach to model associating fluids with small bond angles using Wertheim's perturbation theory. We show theoretically and through Monte Carlo simulations that as bond angle is varied various modes of association become dominant. The theory is shown to be in excellent agreement with Monte Carlo simulation for the prediction of the internal energy, pressure, and fractions in rings and chains, double bonded over the full range of bond angles.

We study the power-law scaling behavior and pinch-off morphology of two-dimensional bubble rafts under tension. As a function of pulling speed, we observe two distinct pinch-off morphologies that have been observed in other fluid systems: long threads (LT) and double-cone (DC). At any given pulling speed, there is a nonzero probability of observing LT or DC, with the probability of observing LT modes increasing with pulling velocity. The bubble rafts are composed of millimeter scale bubbles, and we are able to directly observe pinch-off to the point of final separation and measure the scaling of the minimum width in time. For both the LT and DC modes, the final scaling regime before pinch-off exhibits a universal power-law scaling behavior, with power-law fitting exponents of 0.73 $\pm$ 0.01. However, the final cone angle is different for states that initially exhibit LT or DC pinch-off, and for the LT case, the final scaling is best described as a local double-cone mode.

Variable-gap Hele-Shaw flows consider viscous fluid displacements resulting from the lifting or squeezing of the upper cell plate, while the lower plate remains at rest. Conventionally, researchers focus on the situation in which the cell plates are perfectly parallel. We study a slightly different version of the problem, where the upper plate is gently inclined so that the plates are no longer parallel. Within this tapered Hele-Shaw cell context we examine how the presence of such a small gap gradient affects the stability properties of the fluid-fluid interface. Linear stability analysis indicates that the existence of the taper offers a simple geometric way to control the development of interfacial fingering instabilities under both lifting and squeeze flow circumstances.

We numerically explore gyrotactic bioconvection in large spatially extended domains of finite depth using parameter values from available experiments with the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas nivalis. We numerically integrate the three-dimensional, time-dependent continuum model of Pedley et al. [J. Fluid Mech. 195, 223 (1988)] using a high-order, parallel, spectral-element approach. We explore the long-time nonlinear patterns and dynamics found for layers with an aspect ratio of 10 over a range of Rayleigh numbers. Our results yield the pattern wavelength and pattern dynamics which we compare with available theory and experimental measurement. There is good agreement for the pattern wavelength at short times between numerics, experiment, and a linear stability analysis. At long times we find that the general sequence of patterns given by the nonlinear evolution of the governing equations correspond qualitatively to what has been described experimentally. However, at long times the patterns in numerics grow to larger wavelengths, in contrast to what is observed in experiment where the wavelength is found to decrease with time.

The effect of gravity on the onset and growth rate of capillary instabilities in viscous liquid jets is studied. To this end, a spatial linear stability analysis of Cosserat's equations is performed using a multiscale expansion technique. A dispersion relation and expressions for the perturbation amplitude are derived to evaluate the growth rate of the most unstable axisymmetric disturbance mode. Modeling results are compared with classical results in the limit of zero Bond number, confirming the validity of this approach. Expressions for the critical Weber number, demarcating the transition between convective and absolute instability are derived as functions of capillary and Bond numbers. Parametric investigations for a range of relevant operating conditions (characterized by capillary, Weber, and Bond numbers) are performed to examine the jet breakup and the perturbation growth rate. In addition to the physical insight that is obtained from this investigation, the results that are presented in this work could also be of relevance as test cases for the algorithmic development and the verification of high-fidelity multiphase simulation codes.

Resource allocation takes place in various kinds of real-world complex systems, such as traffic systems, social services institutions or organizations, or even ecosystems. The fundamental principle underlying complex resource-allocation dynamics is Boolean interactions associated with minority games, as resources are generally limited and agents tend to choose the least used resource based on available information. A common but harmful dynamical behavior in resource-allocation systems is herding, where there are time intervals during which a large majority of the agents compete for a few resources, leaving many other resources unused. Accompanying the herd behavior is thus strong fluctuations with time in the number of resources being used. In this paper, we articulate and establish that an intuitive control strategy, namely pinning control, is effective at harnessing the herding dynamics. In particular, by fixing the choices of resources for a few agents while leaving the majority of the agents free, herding can be eliminated completely. Our investigation is systematic in that we consider random and targeted pinning and a variety of network topologies, and we carry out a comprehensive analysis in the framework of mean-field theory to understand the working of control. The basic philosophy is then that, when a few agents waive their freedom to choose resources by receiving sufficient incentives, the majority of the agents benefit in that they will make fair, efficient, and effective use of the available resources. Our work represents a basic and general framework to address the fundamental issue of fluctuations in complex dynamical systems with significant applications to social, economical, and political systems.

Hamiltonian systems, when coupled via time-delayed interactions, do not remain conservative. In the uncoupled system, the motion can typically be periodic, quasiperiodic, or chaotic. This changes drastically when delay coupling is introduced since now attractors can be created in the phase space. In particular, for sufficiently strong coupling there can be amplitude death (AD), namely, the stabilization of point attractors and the cessation of oscillatory motion. The approach to the state of AD or oscillation death is also accompanied by a phase flip in the transient dynamics. A discussion and analysis of the phenomenology is made through an application to the specific cases of harmonic as well as anharmonic coupled oscillators, in particular the Hénon-Heiles system.