A differential photothermal radiometry method, wavelength-modulated differential photothermal radiometry (WM-DPTR), has been developed theoretically and experimentally for noninvasive, noncontact biological analyte detection, such as blood glucose monitoring. WM-DPTR features analyte specificity and sensitivity by combining laser excitation by two out-of-phase modulated beams at wavelengths near the peak and the base line of a prominent and isolated mid-IR analyte absorption band (here the carbon-oxygen-carbon bond in the pyran ring of the glucose molecule). A theoretical photothermal model of WM-DPTR signal generation and detection has been developed. Simulation results on water-glucose phantoms with the human blood range (0–300 mg/dl) glucose concentration demonstrated high sensitivity and resolution to meet wide clinical detection requirements. The model has also been validated by experimental data of the glucose-water system obtained using WM-DPTR.

Many innovations are inspired by past ideas in a nontrivial way. Tracing these origins and identifying scientific branches is crucial for research inspirations. In this paper, we use citation relations to identify the descendant chart, i.e., the family tree of research papers. Unlike other spanning trees that focus on cost or distance minimization, we make use of the nature of citations and identify the most important parent for each publication, leading to a treelike backbone of the citation network. Measures are introduced to validate the backbone as the descendant chart. We show that citation backbones can well characterize the hierarchical and fractal structure of scientific development, and lead to an accurate classification of fields and subfields.

Brittle materials exhibit sharp dynamical fractures when meeting Griffith's criterion, whereas ductile materials blunt a sharp crack by plastic responses. Upon continuous pulling, ductile materials exhibit a necking instability that is dominated by a plastic flow. Usually one discusses the brittle to ductile transition as a function of increasing temperature. We introduce an athermal brittle to ductile transition as a function of the cutoff length of the interparticle potential. On the basis of extensive numerical simulations of the response to pulling the material boundaries at a constant speed we offer an explanation of the onset of ductility via the increase in the density of plastic modes as a function of the potential cutoff length. Finally we can resolve an old riddle: In experiments brittle materials can be strained under grip boundary conditions and exhibit a dynamic crack when cut with a sufficiently long initial slot. Mysteriously, in molecular dynamics simulations it appeared that cracks refused to propagate dynamically under grip boundary conditions, and continuous pulling was necessary to achieve fracture. We argue that this mystery is removed when one understands the distinction between brittle and ductile athermal amorphous materials.

The synchronization is investigated in a two-dimensional Hindmarsh-Rose neuronal network by introducing a global coupling scheme with time delay, where the length of time delay is proportional to the spatial distance between neurons. We find that the time delay always disturbs synchronization of the neuronal network. When both the coupling strength and length of time delay per unit distance (i.e., enlargement factor) are large enough, the time delay induces the abnormal membrane potential oscillations in neurons. Specifically, the abnormal membrane potential oscillations for the symmetrically placed neurons form an antiphase, so that the large coupling strength and enlargement factor lead to the desynchronization of the neuronal network. The complete and intermittently complete synchronization of the neuronal network are observed for the right choice of parameters. The physical mechanism underlying these phenomena is analyzed.

The turbulent magnetic Prandtl number in the framework of the kinematic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, where the magnetic field behaves as a passive vector field advected by the stochastic Navier-Stokes equation, is calculated by the field theoretic renormalization group technique in the two-loop approximation. It is shown that the two-loop corrections to the turbulent magnetic Prandtl number in the kinematic MHD turbulence are less than $2\%$ of its leading order value (the one-loop value) and, at the same time, the two-loop turbulent magnetic Prandtl number is the same as the two-loop turbulent Prandtl number obtained in the corresponding model of a passively advected scalar field. The dependence of the turbulent magnetic Prandtl number on the spatial dimension $d$ is investigated and the source of the smallness of the two-loop corrections for spatial dimension $d=3$ is identified and analyzed.

Dynamical mode-locking phenomena in the incommensurate structures of the dc- and ac-driven overdamped Frenkel-Kontorova model are studied by molecular-dynamics simulations. The obtained results have shown that Shapiro steps exhibit significantly different amplitude and frequency dependence from the one observed in the commensurate structures. Due to the incommensurability of the system the special symmetry of the motion of particles is broken, and in the amplitude dependence of Shapiro steps, this will result in the appearance of anomalies and deviation from the well-known Bessel-like behavior. In the frequency or period dependence, oscillations have been observed in the high-amplitude limit; however, they exhibit strong anomalies compared with those in the commensurate structures. The oscillatory behavior and the anomalies have been also be revealed in the $(F_{\text{ac}},\overline{F})$ and the $({\nu }_0,\overline{F})$ phase diagrams where several phases are defined.

The propagation of the elliptic-Gaussian beams is studied in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media. The elliptic-Gaussian beams and elliptic-Gaussian vortex beams are obtained analytically and numerically. The patterns of the elegant Ince-Gaussian and the generalized Ince-Gaussian beams are varied periodically when the input power is equal to the critical power. The stability is verified by perturbing the initial beam by noise. By simulating the propagation of the elliptic-Gaussian beams in liquid crystal, we find that when the mode order is not big enough, there exists the quasi-elliptic-Gaussian soliton states.

We experimentally study forced and self-excited oscillations of an optomechanical cavity, which is formed between a fiber Bragg grating that serves as a static mirror and a freely suspended metallic mechanical resonator that serves as a moving mirror. In the domain of small amplitude mechanical oscillations, we find that the optomechanical coupling is manifested as changes in the effective resonance frequency, damping rate, and cubic nonlinearity of the mechanical resonator. Moreover, self-excited oscillations of the micromechanical mirror are observed above a certain optical power threshold. A comparison between the experimental results and a theoretical model that we have recently derived and analyzed yields a good agreement. The comparison also indicates that the dominant optomechanical coupling mechanism is the heating of the metallic mirror due to optical absorption.

Solving mazes is not just a fun pastime: They are prototype models in several areas of science and technology. However, when maze complexity increases, their solution becomes cumbersome and very time consuming. Here, we show that a network of memristors—resistors with memory—can solve such a nontrivial problem quite easily. In particular, maze solving by the network of memristors occurs in a massively parallel fashion since all memristors in the network participate simultaneously in the calculation. The result of the calculation is then recorded into the memristors’ states and can be used and/or recovered at a later time. Furthermore, the network of memristors finds all possible solutions in multiple-solution mazes and sorts out the solution paths according to their length. Our results demonstrate not only the application of memristive networks to the field of massively parallel computing, but also an algorithm to solve mazes, which could find applications in different fields.

We study phase transitions and relevant order parameters via statistical estimation theory using the Fisher information matrix. The assumptions that we make limit our analysis to order parameters representable as a negative derivative of thermodynamic potential over some thermodynamic variable. Nevertheless, the resulting representation is sufficiently general and explicitly relates elements of the Fisher information matrix to the rate of change in the corresponding order parameters. The obtained relationships allow us to identify, in particular, second-order phase transitions via divergences of individual elements of the Fisher information matrix. A computational study of random Boolean networks supports the derived relationships, illustrating that Fisher information of the magnetization bias (that is, activity level) is peaked in finite-size networks at the critical points, and the maxima increase with the network size. The framework presented here reveals the basic thermodynamic reasons behind similar empirical observations reported previously. The study highlights the generality of Fisher information as a measure that can be applied to a broad range of systems, particularly those where the determination of order parameters is cumbersome.

The Le Chatelier principle states that physical equilibria are not only stable, but they also resist external perturbations via short-time negative-feedback mechanisms: a perturbation induces processes tending to diminish its results. The principle has deep roots, e.g., in thermodynamics it is closely related to the second law and the positivity of the entropy production. Here we study the applicability of the Le Chatelier principle to evolutionary game theory, i.e., to perturbations of a Nash equilibrium within the replicator dynamics. We show that the principle can be reformulated as a majorization relation. This defines a stability notion that generalizes the concept of evolutionary stability. We determine criteria for a Nash equilibrium to satisfy the Le Chatelier principle and relate them to mutualistic interactions (game-theoretical anticoordination) showing in which sense mutualistic replicators can be more stable than (say) competing ones. There are globally stable Nash equilibria, where the Le Chatelier principle is violated even locally: in contrast to the thermodynamic equilibrium a Nash equilibrium can amplify small perturbations, though both types of equilibria satisfy the detailed balance condition.

We study the disorder-order transition boundary of wormlile $AB$ diblock copolymers on the basis of the wormlike chain formalism aided by a self-consistent mean-field treatment. We examine the influence of the persistency on the phase diagram and properties of the phase transition as a function of the volume fraction, Flory-Huggins parameter, and relative chain rigidity, covering a broad regime spanning from the Gaussian chain to rigid rodlike chain. On the one hand, we demonstrate that the results from a Gaussian-weight-based theory can be recovered in the long-chain limit and, on the other hand, we display that significant revisions to the phase diagram, due to the persistency effects, exist for shorter chains. A split-step numerical algorithm is designed for the computational task.

A simple double-layer polarization theory is developed for the flexible polyelectrolyte solution. Under the applied electric field, the double layer of the polyelectrolyte induces the excess line fluxes of charge and salt within the double layer. The off-diagonal Onsager coefficient couples the charge and the neutral salt dynamics so that the salt distribution is perturbed by the applied electric field. The nonuniform salt then drives the excess double-layer electric current. We show that the dielectric function can be expressed as the free energy storage and loss within the electric field and the salt distribution. At the leading Born approximation, the dielectric function depends on the chain configuration through the chain structure function. We use a simple mean-field structure function to calculate the dielectric function, where a closed-form expression is obtained. A detailed prediction is made for the full range of the polyelectrolyte concentration.

The translocation of a copolymer ${\left(A_n{B}_m\right)}_l$ through an interacting pore was investigated by Monte Carlo simulation on a three-dimensional cubic lattice. Interactions between monomer A and pore ${\varepsilon }_A$ and between monomer B and pore ${\varepsilon }_B$ were considered. The difference between two translocation orientations, orientation A with monomer A entering the pore first and orientation B with monomer B first, was studied. Both the orientation probability and translocation time are dependent on monomer-pore interactions, block length, and fractions of monomers. The separation of different copolymers using translocation was also discussed. The results were explained qualitatively from the view of the free energy landscape of the copolymer translocation.

We measure and simulate the thermal response of bovine corneal stroma to a picosecond IR heating pulse. A thermal diffusion model is developed for this tissue based on the spatial distribution and properties of protein and water constituents in the stroma. In this idealized model, differentially heated protein and water constituents thermally equilibrate with a thermalization time of 515 ps. Using transient absorption spectroscopy for picosecond protein thermometry, a significantly faster thermalization time of 165 ps is measured. The implications of this faster than expected thermalization for the energy-partition model of short-pulse mid-IR tissue ablation are discussed.

We have fabricated a stack of five 1,2-dipalmitoyl-$sn$-3-phosphatidylethanolamine (DPPE) bilayers supported on a polished silicon substrate in excess water. The density profile of these stacks normal to the substrate was obtained through analysis of x-ray reflectivity. Near the substrate, we find the layer roughness and repeat spacing are both significantly smaller than values found in bulk multilayer systems. The reduced spacing and roughness result from suppression of lateral fluctuations due to the flat substrate boundary. The layer spacing decrease then occurs due to reduced Helfrich repulsion.

An elastic rod rotating in a viscous fluid undergoes a shape transition from a twirling (axial spinning) to a whirling state (crankshafting motion) at a certain critical frequency [Wolgemuth et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1623 (2000)]. The physical properties of such whirling rods are largely unknown, owing to their strongly nonlinear character. We analytically and numerically demonstrate that this dynamical transition occurs to reduce the viscous energy dissipation. A simple geometric interpretation underlying this observation is also given. These results provide a fundamental scenario for viscous twist transport in flexible filaments and are potentially important in the analysis of biopolymer dynamics such as DNA supercoiling during transcriptions.

This paper offers a simple macroscopic approach to the question of the slip boundary condition to be imposed upon the tangential component of the fluid velocity at a solid boundary. Plausible reasons are advanced for believing that it is the energy equation rather than the momentum equation that determines the correct fluid-mechanical boundary condition. The scheme resulting therefrom furnishes the following general, near-equilibrium linear constitutive relation for the slip velocity of mass along a relatively flat wall bounding a single-component gas or liquid: ${\left(v_m\right)}_{\mathrm{slip}}{=-\alpha \partial \ln \rho /\partial s|}_{\mathrm{wall}}$, where $\alpha$ and $\rho$ are, respectively, the fluid's thermometric diffusivity and mass density, while the length $\delta s$ refers to distance measured along the wall in the direction in which the slip or creep occurs. This constitutive relation is shown to agree with experimental data for gases and liquids undergoing thermal creep or pressure-driven viscous creep at solid surfaces.

A detailed numerical simulation is carried out for transient laminar flow opposing mixed convection in a downward vertical channel flow with both walls suddenly subjected to isothermal heat sources over a finite portion of the channel walls, by solving the unsteady two-dimensional Navier-Stokes and energy equations. The dynamical behavior of the system is influenced by, in addition to the geometrical parameters, three nondimensional parameters: the Reynolds, Richardson, and Prandtl numbers. Numerical experiments were performed for fixed values of the geometrical parameters, the Reynolds number ($\text{Re}=100$) and the Prandtl number ($\text{Pr}=7$). With variation in the value of the buoyancy (Richardson number), the nonlinear dynamical response of the system can reach (i) a stationary solution, (ii) a local and then a global periodic solution where the system executes self-sustained relaxation oscillations, or (iii) a solution in which the relaxation oscillation is destroyed leading to a chaotic state. In this study, bifurcations between different states, phase-space plots of the self-oscillatory system, characteristic times of temperature oscillations, and an exact description of the oscillations are presented quantitatively for a range of values of the buoyancy parameter. The results include the effects of the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers on the evolution of the different transitions.

We investigate one- and two-dimensional radial domain-wall (DW) states in the system of two nonlinear-Schrödinger (NLS) or Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equations, which are couple by linear mixing and by nonlinear XPM (cross-phase-modulation). The system has straightforward applications to two-component Bose-Einstein condensates, and to bimodal light propagation in nonlinear optics. In the former case the two components represent different hyperfine atomic states, while in the latter setting they correspond to orthogonal polarizations of light. Conditions guaranteeing the stability of flat continuous wave (CW) asymmetric bimodal states are established, followed by the study of families of the corresponding DW patterns. Approximate analytical solutions for the DWs are found near the point of the symmetry-breaking bifurcation of the CW states. An exact DW solution is produced for ratio 3:1 of the XPM and SPM (self-phase modulation) coefficients. The DWs between flat asymmetric states, which are mirror images of each other, are completely stable, and all other species of the DWs, with zero crossings in one or two components, are fully unstable. Interactions between two DWs are considered too, and an effective potential accounting for the attraction between them is derived analytically. Direct simulations demonstrate merger and annihilation of the interacting DWs. The analysis is extended for the system including single- and double-peak external potentials. Generic solutions for trapped DWs are obtained in a numerical form, and their stability is investigated. An exact stable solution is found for the DW trapped by a single-peak potential. In the 2D geometry, stable two-component vortices are found, with topological charges $s=1,2,3$. Radial oscillations of annular DW-shaped pulsons, with $s=0,1,2$, are studied too. A linear relation between the period of the oscillations and the mean radius of the DW ring is derived analytically.