An approximate method for calculating the radiation from a moving charge in the presence of a dielectric object is developed. The method is composed of two steps. The first step is calculation of the field in the medium without considering the external boundaries of the object, and the second step is an approximate (ray-optical) calculation of the wave propagation outside the object. As a test problem, we consider the case of a charge crossing a dielectric plate. Computations of the field are performed using exact and approximate methods. It is shown that the results agree well. Additionally, we apply the method under consideration to the case of a cone-shaped object with a vacuum channel. The radiation energy spectral density as a function of the location of the observation point and the problem's parameters is given. In particular, the convergent radiation effect is described.

We present a multihistogram reweighting technique for nonequilibrium Markov chains with discrete energies. The method generalizes the single-histogram method of Yin et al. [Phys. Rev. E 72, 036122 (2005)], making it possible to calculate the time evolution of observables at a posteriori chosen couplings based on a set of simulations performed at other couplings. In the same way as multihistogram reweighting in an equilibrium setting improves the practical reweighting range as well as use of available data compared to single-histogram reweighting, the method generalizes the multihistogram advantages to nonequilibrium simulations. We demonstrate the procedure for the Ising model with Metropolis dynamics, but stress that the method is generally applicable to a range of models and Monte Carlo update schemes.

In the present article, statistical properties regarding the topology and standard percolation on relative neighborhood graphs (RNGs) for planar sets of points, considering the Euclidean metric, are put under scrutiny. RNGs belong to the family of “proximity graphs”; i.e., their edgeset encodes proximity information regarding the close neighbors for the terminal nodes of a given edge. Therefore they are, e.g., discussed in the context of the construction of backbones for wireless ad hoc networks that guarantee connectedness of all underlying nodes. Here, by means of numerical simulations, we determine the asymptotic degree and diameter of RNGs and we estimate their bond and site percolation thresholds, which were previously conjectured to be nontrivial. We compare the results to regular 2D graphs for which the degree is close to that of the RNG. Finally, we deduce the common percolation critical exponents from the RNG data to verify that the associated universality class is that of standard 2D percolation.

In order to test the universality of a symmetry for the trajectory obtained for Hamiltonian dynamics, we investigate the case of Nose-Hoover thermostatted dynamics with the use of a clear separation between the system and reservoir. Remarkably, the same symmetry as the Hamiltonian dynamics holds despite the presence of the dissipation, which causes the phase volume contraction. As a nontrivial application of the symmetry, we further show that the microscopic reversibility for open systems holds just as in the Hamiltonian dynamics. This bridges the first and second laws of thermodynamics under the proper definition of the work and heat.

The heat capacity of supercooled water, measured down to $-37{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$, shows an anomalous increase as temperature decreases. The thermal diffusivity, i.e., the ratio of the thermal conductivity and the heat capacity per unit volume, shows a decrease. These anomalies may be associated with a hypothesized liquid-liquid critical point in supercooled water below the line of homogeneous nucleation. However, while the thermal conductivity is known to diverge at the vapor-liquid critical point due to critical density fluctuations, the thermal conductivity of supercooled water, calculated as the product of thermal diffusivity and heat capacity, does not show any sign of such an anomaly. We have used mode-coupling theory to investigate the possible effect of critical fluctuations on the thermal conductivity of supercooled water and found that indeed any critical thermal-conductivity enhancement would be too small to be measurable at experimentally accessible temperatures. Moreover, the behavior of thermal conductivity can be explained by the observed anomalies of the thermodynamic properties. In particular, we show that thermal conductivity should go through a minimum when temperature is decreased, as Kumar and Stanley observed in the TIP5P model of water. We discuss physical reasons for the striking difference between the behavior of thermal conductivity in water near the vapor-liquid and liquid-liquid critical points.

Experiments and simulations to promote or attenuate the “coffee-ring effect” for pinned sessile nanofluid droplets are presented. The addition of surfactant inside a water suspension of aluminum oxide nanoparticles results in coffee-ring formation after the pinned sessile droplets are fully dried on a substrate, while droplets of the same suspension without the surfactant produce a fine uniform coverage. A mathematical model based on diffusion-limited cluster-cluster aggregation has been developed to explain the observed difference in the experiments. The simulations show that the particle sticking probability is a crucial factor on the morphology of finally dried structures.

We propose a stage-dependent model with constant delay to study the effect of the initial infection-free period on the spread of Hantavirus infection in rodents. We analyze the model under various extreme weather conditions, in the context of the El Niño–La Niña Southern Oscillation phenomenon, and show how these variations determine the evolution of the system significantly. When the scenario corresponds to El Niño, the system presents a demographic explosion and a delayed outbreak of Hantavirus infection, whereas if the scenario is the opposite there is a rapid decline of the population, but with a possible persistence period that may imply a considerable risk for public health, a fact that is in agreement with available field data. We use the model to simulate a historical evolution that resembles the processes that occurred in the 1990s.

Two different approaches to the calculation of the wave spectra of magnetized strongly coupled liquid one-component plasmas are analzyed: the semianalytical quasilocalized charge approximation (QLCA) and the angle-averaged harmonic lattice (AAHL) theory. Both theories are benchmarked against the numerical evidence obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. It is found that not too far from the melting transition ($\Gamma \gtrsim 100$), the AAHL theory is superior to the QLCA, while further away from the transition, the QLCA performs comparably to or better than the AAHL theory.

A pore-scale model based on the lattice Boltzmann (LB) method is developed for multiphase reactive transport with phase transitions and dissolution-precipitation processes. The model combines the single-component multiphase Shan-Chen LB model [X. Shan and H. Chen, Phys. Rev. E 47, 1815 (1993)], the mass transport LB model [S. P. Sullivan et al., Chem. Eng. Sci. 60, 3405 (2005)], and the dissolution-precipitation model [Q. Kang et al., J. Geophys. Res. 111, B05203 (2006)]. Care is taken to handle information on computational nodes undergoing solid-liquid or liquid-vapor phase changes to guarantee mass and momentum conservation. A general LB concentration boundary condition is proposed that can handle various concentration boundaries including reactive and moving boundaries with complex geometries. The pore-scale model can capture coupled nonlinear multiple physicochemical processes including multiphase flow with phase separations, mass transport, chemical reactions, dissolution-precipitation processes, and dynamic evolution of the pore geometries. The model is validated using several multiphase flow and reactive transport problems and then used to study the thermal migration of a brine inclusion in a salt crystal. Multiphase reactive transport phenomena with phase transitions between liquid-vapor phases and dissolution-precipitation processes of the salt in the closed inclusion are simulated and the effects of the initial inclusion size and temperature gradient on the thermal migration are investigated.

We analyze the anomalous dynamics of a tagged monomer under external navigation. The memory effect causing the anomaly is elucidated, which depends on the magnitude of the force. In particular, the nonlinear and nonequilibrium memory effect under strong force is characterized by the force-dependent self-affine process for the tension transmission along the connectivity. Utilizing such knowledge, a generalized Langevin equation approach is proposed to quantify the fluctuating dynamics of driven anomalous walkers.

We consider one typical system of oscillators coupled through disordered link configurations in networks, i.e., a finite population of coupled phase oscillators with distributed intrinsic frequencies on a random network. We investigate the collective synchronization behavior, paying particular attention to link-disorder fluctuation effects on the synchronization transition and its finite-size scaling (FSS). Extensive numerical simulations as well as the mean-field analysis have been performed. We find that link-disorder fluctuations effectively induce uncorrelated random fluctuations in frequency, resulting in the FSS exponent $\overline{\nu }=5/2$, which is identical to that in the globally coupled case (no link disorder) with frequency-disorder fluctuations.

We experimentally investigate segregation behaviors of binary granular mixtures consisting of granular chains and spherical grains with different interstitial media under vertical vibrations. A quantitative criterion is proposed to locate the boundaries between different vibrating phases. The water-immersed granular mixture exhibits two interesting types of segregation behaviors: chain-on-top and sandwich patterns. However, the phenomenon of sandwich segregation is absent for the air-immersed mixture. The topological differences of phase diagrams between two different environments indicate that the interstitial fluid plays an important role on the granular demixing. Additionally, the phase behaviors of mixtures for the different chain lengths show a not significant discrepancy. Finally, the vibrating thickness ratio determining the phase boundary characterizes the mixing extent of the granular bed. The estimated ratios for various chain lengths exhibit a monotonically decreasing dependence, when the vibration frequency increases.

The oscillatory growth of a dilute binary alloy has recently been described by a nonlinear oscillator equation that applies to small temperature gradients and large growth velocities in the setup of directional solidification. Based on a one-dimensional stability analysis of stationary solutions of this equation, we explore in the present paper the complete region where the solidification front propagates in an oscillatory way. The boundary of this region is calculated exactly, and the nature of the oscillations is evaluated numerically in several segments of the region.

Surface fluctuation spectra of liquids are measured to unprecedented precision, down to 3 orders of magnitude below the shot-noise level using averaged correlations of interferometry measurements. This allows us to investigate the limits in our current theoretical understanding of these phenomena. The spectrum derived from hydrodynamical considerations agrees well with the observed results for water. However, for oil, deviations are seen at high frequencies ($\gtrsim$1 MHz), perhaps indicating its more complex underlying physics. The measurements are made possible by dualizing the Michelson interferometry measurements and employing the averaged correlation of signals, in which the shot noise is statistically reduced. The method works in the presence of the quantum noise of a coherent state of light. The optical part of the experimental setup is essentially the same as that of Michelson interferometry so that the method can be applied when Michelson interferometry can be used. Furthermore, the measurement method requires a relatively low light power and a short time so that it has a wide range of applicability.

Fluorocarbon thin-film deposition is studied, which shows an anomalous high dynamic growth exponent and therefore does not fit in any universal class of fractal surface growth models. A detailed analysis of the nonlinear behavior of the surface morphology evolution is carried out, quantifying several features of the shadowing instability. A synergy effect with the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang nonlinearity, which couple the large scales induced by shadowing with intermediate scales, may explain the anomalous high growth exponent.

Dielectric properties of poly(acrylic acid)-graft-poly(ethylene oxide) (PAA-$g$-PEO) aqueous solution were measured as a function of concentration and temperature over a frequency range of 40 Hz to 110 MHz. After subtracting the contribution of electrode polarization, three relaxation processes were observed at about 20 kHz, 220 kHz, and 4 MHz, and they are named low-, mid- and high-frequency relaxation, respectively. The relaxation parameters of these three relaxations (dielectric increment Δε and relaxation time τ) showed scaling relations with the polyelectrolyte concentration. The mechanisms of the three relaxations were concluded in light of the scaling theory: The relaxations of low- and mid frequency were attributed to the fluctuation of condensed counterions, while the high-frequency relaxation was ascribed to the fluctuation of free counterions. Based on the dielectric measurements of varying temperatures, the thermodynamic parameters (enthalpy change Δ$H$ and entropy change Δ$S$) of the three relaxations were calculated and these relaxation processes were also discussed from the microscopic thermodynamical view. In addition, the impacts of PEO side chains on the conformation of PAA-$g$-PEO chains were discussed. PEO side chains greatly strengthen the hydrogen-bonding interactions between PAA-g-PEO chains, resulting in the chains overlapping at a very low concentration and the formation of a hydrogen-bonding complex. Some physicochemical parameters of PAA-g-PEO molecules were calculated, including the overlap concentration, the effective charge of the chain, the friction coefficient, and the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen counterions.

Cells probe their mechanical environment and can change the organization of their cytoskeletons when the elastic and viscous properties of their environment are modified. We use a model in which the forces exerted by small, contractile acto-myosin filaments (e.g., nascent stress fibers in stem cells) on the extracellular matrix are modeled as local force dipoles. In some cases, the strain field caused by these force dipoles propagates quickly enough so that only static elastic interactions need be considered. On the other hand, in the case of significant energy dissipation, strain propagation is slower and may be eliminated completely by the relaxation of the cellular cytoskeleton (e.g., by cross-link dissociation). Here, we consider several dissipative mechanisms that affect the propagation of the strain field in adhered cells and consider these effects on the interaction between force dipoles and their resulting mutual orientations. This is a first step in understanding the development of orientational (nematic) or layering (smectic) order in the cytoskeleton. We use the theory to estimate the propagation time of the strain fields over a cellular distance for different mechanisms and find that in some cases it can be of the order of seconds, thus competing with the cytoskeletal relaxation time. Furthermore, for a simple system of two force dipoles, we predict that in some cases the orientation of force dipoles might change significantly with time, e.g., for short times the dipoles exhibit parallel alignment while for later times they align perpendicularly.