We study the meniscus profiles of ferrofluids in the magnetic field of a vertical current-carrying wire. Measurements of the free ferrofluid surface profile are quantitatively compared with numerical calculations. The theoretical model leads to a second-order ordinary differential equation. All material parameters are determined in independent experiments, therefore no fitting parameters are involved in the calculations. The experimental results can be modeled by the equilibrium of magnetic, gravitational, and interface tension forces. The classical model that neglects interface tension yields significant deviations from the experimental profiles in the parameter range studied.

We build on the formulation developed in S. Sridhar and N. K. Singh [J. Fluid Mech. 664, 265 (2010)] and present a theory of the shear dynamo problem for small magnetic and fluid Reynolds numbers, but for arbitrary values of the shear parameter. Specializing to the case of a mean magnetic field that is slowly varying in time, explicit expressions for the transport coefficients ${\alpha }_{\mathit{il}}$ and ${\eta }_{\mathit{iml}}$ are derived. We prove that when the velocity field is nonhelical, the transport coefficient ${\alpha }_{\mathit{il}}$ vanishes. We then consider forced, stochastic dynamics for the incompressible velocity field at low Reynolds number. An exact, explicit solution for the velocity field is derived, and the velocity spectrum tensor is calculated in terms of the Galilean-invariant forcing statistics. We consider forcing statistics that are nonhelical, isotropic, and delta correlated in time, and specialize to the case when the mean field is a function only of the spatial coordinate $X_3$ and time $\tau$; this reduction is necessary for comparison with the numerical experiments of A. Brandenburg, K. H. Rädler, M. Rheinhardt, and P. J. Käpylä [Astrophys. J. 676, 740 (2008)]. Explicit expressions are derived for all four components of the magnetic diffusivity tensor ${\eta }_{\mathit{ij}}(\tau )$. These are used to prove that the shear-current effect cannot be responsible for dynamo action at small $\mathrm{Re}$ and $\mathrm{Rm}$, but for all values of the shear parameter.

The dynamics of capillary climb of a wetting liquid into a porous medium that is opposed by gravity force is studied numerically. We use the capillary network model, in which an actual porous medium is represented as a network of pores and throats, each following a predefined size distribution function. The liquid potential in the pores along the liquid interface within the network is calculated as a result of capillary and gravity forces. The solution is general, and accounts for changes in the climbing height and climbing velocity. The numerical results for the capillary climb reveal that there are at least two distinct flow mechanisms. Initially, the flow is characterized by high climbing velocity, in which the capillary force is higher than the gravity force, and the flow is the viscous force dominated. For this single-phase flow, the Washburn equation can be used to predict the changes of climbing height over time. Later, for longer times and larger climbing height, the capillary and gravity forces become comparable, and one observes a slower increase in the climbing height as a function of time. Due to the two forces being comparable, the gas-liquid sharp interface transforms into flow front, where the multiphase flow develops. The numerical results from this study, expressed as the climbing height as a power law function of time, indicate that the two powers, which correspond to the two distinct mechanisms, differ significantly. The comparison of the powers with experimental data indicates good agreement. Furthermore, the power value from the Washburn solution is also analyzed, where it should be equal to $\frac{1}{2}$ for purely viscous force driven flow. This is in contrast to the power value of ∼0.43 that is found experimentally. We show from the numerical solution that this discrepancy is due to the momentum dissipation on the liquid interface.

The complete spectrum of eigenmodes of a spherically confined Yukawa plasma is presented, based on first-principle molecular dynamics simulations. These results are compared with a recent fluid theory for the multipole modes of this system [H. Kählert and M. Bonitz, Phys. Rev. E 82, 036407 (2010)] and with the exact $N$-particle eigenmodes in the crystalline phase. Simulations confirm the existence of high-order modes found in cold fluid theory. We investigate the influence of screening, coupling, and friction on the mode spectra in detail. Good agreement between theory and simulation is found for weak to moderate screening and low-order modes. In addition, a number of new modes are observed which are missing in the fluid theory. The relations between the breathing mode in the fluid theory, simulation, and the crystal eigenmode are investigated in further detail.

Spatial regulation of cell differentiation in embryos can be provided by morphogen gradients, which are defined as the concentration fields of molecules that control gene expression. For example, a cell can use its surface receptors to measure the local concentration of an extracellular ligand and convert this information into a corresponding change in its transcriptional state. We characterize the time needed to establish a steady-state gradient in problems with diffusion and degradation of locally produced chemical signals. A relaxation function is introduced to describe how the morphogen concentration profile approaches its steady state. This function is used to obtain a local accumulation time that provides a time scale that characterizes relaxation to steady state at an arbitrary position within the patterned field. To illustrate the approach we derive local accumulation times for a number of commonly used models of morphogen gradient formation.

Community detection in networks based on modularity maximization is currently done with hierarchical divisive or agglomerative as well as partitioning heuristics, hybrids, and, in a few papers, exact algorithms. We consider here the case of hierarchical networks in which communities should be detected and propose a divisive heuristic which is locally optimal in the sense that each of the successive bipartitions is done in a provably optimal way. This heuristic is compared with the spectral-based hierarchical divisive heuristic of Newman [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103, 8577 (2006).] and with the hierarchical agglomerative heuristic of Clauset, Newman, and Moore [Phys. Rev. E 70, 066111 (2004).]. Computational results are given for a series of problems of the literature with up to 4941 vertices and 6594 edges. They show that the proposed divisive heuristic gives better results than the divisive heuristic of Newman and than the agglomerative heuristic of Clauset et al.

The spreading of an initially localized wave packet in one-dimensional linear and nonlinear generalized Fibonacci (GF) lattices is studied numerically. The GF lattices can be classified into two classes depending on whether or not the lattice possesses the Pisot-Vijayaraghavan property. For linear GF lattices of the first class, both the second moment and the participation number grow with time. For linear GF lattices of the second class, in the regime of a weak on-site potential, wave packet spreading is close to ballistic diffusion, whereas in the regime of a strong on-site potential, it displays stairlike growth in both the second moment and the participation number. Nonlinear GF lattices are then investigated in parallel. For the first class of nonlinear GF lattices, the second moment of the wave packet still grows with time, but the corresponding participation number does not grow simultaneously. For the second class of nonlinear GF lattices, an analogous phenomenon is observed for the weak on-site potential only. For a strong on-site potential that leads to an enhanced nonlinear self-trapping effect, neither the second moment nor the participation number grows with time. The results can be useful in guiding experiments on the expansion of noninteracting or interacting cold atoms in quasiperiodic optical lattices.

We present a method for contracting a square-lattice tensor network in two dimensions based on auxiliary tensors accomplishing successive truncations (renormalization) of eight-index tensors for $2\times 2$ plaquettes into four-index tensors. Since all approximations are done on the wave function (which also can be interpreted in terms of different kinds of tensor networks), the scheme is variational, and thus, the tensors can be optimized by minimizing the energy. Test results for the quantum phase transition of the transverse-field Ising model confirm that even the smallest possible tensors (two values for each tensor index at each renormalization level) produce much better results than the simple product (mean-field) state.

We study the distribution of voltage drops across bonds in dielectric breakdown networks and its $q$th moments in the two-dimensional Euclidean space. Performing numerical simulations, we find that the distribution is composed of three different power-law regimes which are distinguished by two crossover voltages $V_1$ and $V_2$. The scaling behaviors of these crossover voltages with respect to the system size govern those of the $q$th moments of the voltage distribution. This feature differs from the multifractal behavior of the $q$th moment in random resistor networks. We discuss the implications of these scaling behaviors in relation to the application of the dielectric breakdown network to memory devices.

In this paper we provide a unified framework for quasispecies evolution and stochastic quantization. We map the biological evolution described by the quasispecies equation to the stochastic dynamics of an ensemble of particles undergoing a creation-annihilation process. We show that this mapping identifies a natural decomposition of the probability that an individual has a certain genotype into eigenfunctions of the evolutionary operator. This alternative approach to study the quasispecies equation allows for a generalization of the Fisher theorem equivalent to the Price equation. According to this relation the average fitness of an asexual population increases with time proportional to the variance of the eigenvalues of the evolutionary operator. Moreover, from the present alternative formulation of stochastic quantization a novel scenario emerges to be compared with existing approaches. The evolution of an ensemble of particles undergoing diffusion and a creation-annihilation process is parametrized by a variable $\beta$ that we call the inverse temperature of the stochastic dynamics. We find that the evolution equation at high temperatures is simply related to the Schrödinger equation, but at low temperature it strongly deviates from it. In the presence of additional noise in scattering processes between the particles, the evolution reaches a steady state described by the Bose-Einstein statistics.

We consider membranes adhered through specific receptor-ligand bonds. Thermal undulations of the membrane induce effective interactions between adhesion sites. We derive an upper bound to the free energy that is independent of interaction details. To the lowest order in a systematic expansion we obtain two-body interactions that allow us to map the free energy onto a lattice gas with a constant density. The induced interactions alone are not strong enough to lead to a condensation of individual adhesion sites. A measure of the thermal roughness is shown to depend on the inverse square root of the density of adhesion sites, which is in good agreement with previous computer simulations.

We present a swarm model of Brownian particles with harmonic interactions, where the individuals undergo canonical active Brownian motion, i.e., each Brownian particle can convert internal energy to mechanical energy of motion. We assume the existence of a single global internal energy of the system. Numerical simulations show amorphous swarming behavior as well as static configurations. Analytic understanding of the system is provided by studying stability properties of equilibria.

Transport of Brownian particles interacting with each other via the Morse potential is investigated in the presence of an ac driving force applied locally at one end of the chain. By using numerical simulations, we find that the system can behave as a particle diode for both overdamped and underdamped cases. For low frequencies, the transport from the free end to the ac acting end is prohibited, while the transport from the ac acting end to the free end is permitted. However, the polarity of the particle diode will reverse for medium frequencies. There exists an optimal value of the well depth of the interaction potential at which the average velocity takes its maximum. The average velocity $\upsilon$ decreases monotonically with the system size $N$ by a power law $\upsilon \propto N^{-1}$.

We numerically investigate the long-time behavior of the density-density autocorrelation function in driven lattice gases with particle exclusion and periodic boundary conditions in one, two, and three dimensions using precise Monte Carlo simulations. In the one-dimensional asymmetric exclusion process on a ring with half the lattice sites occupied, we find that correlations induce extremely slow relaxation to the asymptotic power law decay. We compare the crossover functions obtained from our simulations with various analytic results in the literature and analyze the characteristic oscillations that occur in finite systems away from half-filling. As expected, in three dimensions correlations are weak and consequently the mean-field description is adequate. We also investigate the relaxation toward the nonequilibrium steady state in the two-time density-density autocorrelations, starting from strongly correlated initial conditions. We obtain simple aging scaling behavior in one, two, and three dimensions, with the expected power laws.

The consolidation of colloidal particles in drying colloidal dispersions is influenced by various factors such as particle size and shape, and interparticle potential. The capillary pressure induced by the menisci, formed between the top layer of particles in the packed bed, compresses the bed of particles while the constraints imposed by the boundaries result in tensile stresses in the packing. Presence of flaws or defects in the bed determines its ultimate strength under such circumstances. In this study, we determine the asymptotic stress distribution around a flaw in a two-dimensional colloidal packing saturated with liquid and compare the results with those obtained from the full numerical solution of the problem. Using the Griffith’s criterion for equilibrium cracks, we relate the critical capillary pressure at equilibrium to the crack size and the mechanical properties of the packed bed. The analysis also gives the maximum allowable flaw size for obtaining a crack-free packing.

We study heat conduction through one-dimensional homogeneous lattices in the presence of the nonlinear on-site potentials containing the bounded and unbounded parts, and the harmonic interaction potential. We observe the occurrence of double negative differential thermal resistance (NDTR); namely, there exist two regions of temperature difference, where the heat flux decreases as the applied temperature difference increases. The nonlinearity of the bounded part contributes to NDTR at low temperatures and NDTR at high temperatures is induced by the nonlinearity of the unbounded part. The nonlinearity of the on-site potentials is necessary to obtain NDTR for the harmonic interaction homogeneous lattices. However, for the anharmonic homogeneous lattices, NDTR even occurs in the absence of the on-site potentials, for example, the rotator model.

The Axelrod-Schelling model incorporates into the original Axelrod’s model of cultural dissemination the possibility that cultural agents placed in culturally dissimilar environments move to other places, the strength of this mobility being controlled by an intolerance parameter. By allowing heterogeneity in the intolerance of cultural agents, and considering it as a cultural feature, i.e., susceptible of cultural transmission (thus breaking the original symmetry of Axelrod-Schelling dynamics), we address here the question of whether tolerant or intolerant traits are more likely to become dominant in the long-term cultural dynamics. Our results show that tolerant traits possess a clear selective advantage in the framework of the Axelrod-Schelling model. We show that the reason for this selective advantage is the development, as time evolves, of a positive correlation between the number of neighbors that an agent has in its environment and its tolerant character.