Alder and Wainwright discovered the slow power decay $\sim t^{-d/2}$ ($d$ is dimension) of the velocity autocorrelation function in moderately dense hard-sphere fluids using the event-driven molecular dynamics simulations. In the two-dimensional (2D) case, the diffusion coefficient derived using the time correlation expression in linear response theory shows logarithmic divergence, which is called the “2D long-time-tail problem.” We reexamined this problem to perform a large-scale, long-time simulation with $1\times {10}^6$ hard disks using a modern efficient algorithm and found that the decay of the long tail in moderately dense fluids is slightly faster than the power decay $\left(\sim 1/t\right)$. We also compared our numerical data with the prediction of the self-consistent mode-coupling theory in the long-time limit $\left[\sim 1/\left(t\sqrt{\text{ln}t}\right)\right]$.

We report on acoustic wave propagation in a regular array of nominally identical beads under isotropic static stress. The weak polydispersity of the beads makes the contact lattice random. Time-frequency analysis of the acoustic signal is performed and allows measurement of the full lattice dispersion relation. Comparison with the theoretical prediction for a perfect triangular lattice gives an indication of the level of randomness in the contact lattice. The results extend, in a consistent way, a previous study restricted to long wavelength propagation [B. Gilles and C. Coste, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 174302 (2003)]: The contact lattice is ordered by increasing the stress, and the smaller the wavelength, the higher the stress required to get regular lattice behavior. Measurements involving ballistic propagation of the coherent wave, whatever its frequency, evidence reversible lattice behavior under compression and/or decompression. Nevertheless, correlations of short wavelength incoherent waves are a sensitive probe of disorder, and allow us to exhibit a small irreversible evolution of the lattice.

We report an atomic force microscopy (AFM) study on thick multilamellar stacks of approximately $10\mu \mathrm{m}$ thickness (about 1500 stacked membranes) of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phoshatidylcholine deposited on silicon wafers. These thick stacks could be stabilized for measurements under excess water or solution. From the force curves we determine the compressional modulus $B$ and the rupture force $F_r$ of the bilayers in the gel (ripple), in the fluid phase, and in the range of critical swelling close to the main transition. We observe pronounced ripples on the top layer in the $P_{{\beta }^{\prime }}$ (ripple) phase and find an increasing ripple period ${\Lambda }_r$ when approaching the temperature of the main phase transition into the fluid $L_{\alpha }$ phase at about $24°\mathrm{C}$. Metastable ripples with $2{\Lambda }_r$ are observed. ${\Lambda }_r$ also increases with increasing osmotic pressure, i.e., for different concentrations of polyethylene glycol.

We investigate the segregation resulting from the competition between advection and shear-induced migration of suspensions in steady open flows. Herringbone channels form a concentration profile deviating from the particle focusing found in straight channels. Transients can result from a buckling instability during the onset of migration when particle-depleted fluid is injected into particle-rich fluid. In chaotic flows, the better mixing found at low bulk volume fraction is not seen at higher bulk volume fraction. Thus, the ability of static mixers to reduce the effects of shear-induced migration is significantly limited.

The power grid defines one of the most important technological networks of our times and sustains our complex society. It has evolved for more than a century into an extremely huge and seemingly robust and well understood system. But it becomes extremely fragile as well, when unexpected, usually minimal, failures turn into unknown dynamical behaviours leading, for example, to sudden and massive blackouts. Here we explore the fragility of the European power grid under the effect of selective node removal. A mean field analysis of fragility against attacks is presented together with the observed patterns. Deviations from the theoretical conditions for network percolation (and fragmentation) under attacks are analysed and correlated with non topological reliability measures.

A detailed temporal and spatiotemporal stability analysis of two-layer falling films with density and viscosity stratification is performed by using the Chebyshev collocation method to solve the full system of linear stability equations. From the neutral curves $\text{Re}\left(k\right)$ for the surface mode and the interface mode of instability, obtained for different density ratios $\gamma$ of the upper layer to the lower layer, it is found that smaller density ratios make the surface mode and the short-wave interface mode much more stable, and can even make the short-wave interfacial instability disappear. Moreover, through the study of the local growth rates of the spatiotemporal instability as a function of the ray velocity $V$, it is found that for not too small incline angles like $\theta =0.2$, the two-layer flow is always convectively unstable, and there is a transition between long- and short-wave instabilities which is determined by the Briggs-Bers collision criterion. Due to the existence of the absolute Rayleigh-Taylor instability for $\gamma >0$ and $\theta =0$, a transition from convective to absolute instability can be detected at small incline angles, and the corresponding boundary curves are plotted for different Reynolds numbers, viscosity ratios, and incline angles. It is found that there exists a limit Reynolds number above which the two-layer film flow can only be convectively unstable for a fixed small incline angle. The spatial amplification properties of the convective waves are finally presented for both surface and interface modes.

Electrons in shocks are efficiently energized due to the cross-shock potential, which develops because of differential deflection of electrons and ions by the magnetic field in the shock front. The electron energization is necessarily accompanied by scattering and thermalization. The mechanism is efficient in both magnetized and nonmagnetized relativistic electron-ion shocks. It is proposed that the synchrotron emission from the heated electrons in a layer of strongly enhanced magnetic field is responsible for gamma-ray-burst afterglows.

We construct two families of exact periodic solutions to the standard model of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with Kerr nonlinearity. The solutions are named “sn” and “cn” waves, according to the elliptic functions used in their analytical representation. The sn wave exists only inside the FBG’s spectral bandgap, while waves of the cn type may only exist at negative frequencies $\left(\omega <0\right)$, both inside and outside the bandgap. In the long-wave limit, the sn and cn families recover, respectively, the ordinary gap solitons, and (unstable) antidark and dark solitons. Stability of the periodic solutions is checked by direct numerical simulations and, in the case of the sn family, also through the calculation of instability growth rates for small perturbations. Although, rigorously speaking, all periodic solutions are unstable, a subfamily of practically stable sn waves, with a sufficiently large spatial period and $\omega >0$, is identified. However, the sn waves with $\omega <0$, as well as all cn solutions, are strongly unstable.

We obtain an effective transport description for the superdiffusive motion of random walkers in stratified flow by projection of the process on the direction of stratification. The effective dimensionally reduced motion is shown to describe a correlated random walk characterized by the Lagrangian velocity correlation. We analyze the projected motion through exact analytical solutions for the distribution density for an arbitrary correlated Gaussian noise and derive an evolution equation for the one-point and conditional two-point displacement densities. The latter gives an explicit effective equation for superdiffusive transport in stratified random flow and demonstrates that the displacement density has a Gaussian scaling form for all times.

We present a Brownian inchworm model of a self-propelled elastic dimer in the absence of an external potential. Nonequilibrium noise together with a stretch-dependent damping form the propulsion mechanism. Our model connects three key nonequilibrium features—position-velocity correlations, a nonzero mean internal force, and a drift velocity. Our analytical results, including striking current reversals, compare very well with numerical simulations. The model unifies the propulsion mechanisms of DNA helicases, polar rods on a vibrated surface, crawling keratocytes and Myosin VI. We suggest experimental realizations and tests of the model.

Motivated by the existence of remarkably ordered cluster arrays of bacteria colonies growing in Petri dishes and related problems, we study the spontaneous emergence of clustering and patterns in a simple nonequilibrium system: the individual-based interacting Brownian bug model. We map this discrete model into a continuous Langevin equation which is the starting point for our extensive numerical analyses. For the two-dimensional case we report on the spontaneous generation of localized clusters of activity as well as a melting-freezing transition from a disordered or isotropic phase to an ordered one characterized by hexagonal patterns. We study in detail the analogies and differences with the well-established Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young theory of equilibrium melting, as well as with another competing theory. For that, we study translational and orientational correlations and perform a careful defect analysis. We find a nonstandard one-stage, defect-mediated transition whose nature is only partially elucidated.

We demonstrate control over heat flow in an $N$-terminal molecular junction. Using simple model Hamiltonians we show that the heat current through two terminals can be tuned by the temperature and coupling parameters of external gating reservoirs. We discuss two models: A fully harmonic system and a model incorporating anharmonic interactions. For both models the control reservoirs induce thermal fluctuations of the transition elements between molecular vibrational states. We find that a fully harmonic model does not show any controllability, while for an anharmonic system the conduction properties of the junction strongly depend on the parameters of the gates. Realizations of the model system within nanodevices and macromolecules are discussed.

We study the phase structure of a phantom tethered surface model shedding light on the internal degrees of freedom (IDOF), which correspond to the three-dimensional rodlike structure of the lipid molecules. The so-called tilt order is assumed as IDOF on the surface model. The model is defined by combining the conventional spherical surface model and the $XY$ model, which describes not only the interaction between lipids but also the interaction between the lipids and the surface. The interaction strength between IDOF and the surface varies depending on the interaction strength between the variables of IDOF. We know that the model without IDOF undergoes a first-order transition of surface fluctuations and a first order collapsing transition. We observe in this paper that the order of the surface fluctuation transition changes from first order to second order and to higher order with increasing strength of the interaction between IDOF variables. On the contrary, the order of collapsing transition remains first order and is not influenced by the presence of IDOF.

This paper presents a statistical theory of stochastic evaporation and degradation processes in complex polymerlike ring and chain aggregates with multiple degrading bonds between the primary particles (monomers). The exact kinetic solution fully describing fragmentation processes is obtained for such aggregates with arbitrary number of primary particles (monomers) and bonds between them. The effects of additional interaction of multiple bonds with each other is shown to have a drastic impact on the predicted kinetic processes and time-dependent particle size distributions during aggregate degradation. Structural effects associated with different distributions of multiple bonds and bonding configurations in the aggregates are also investigated and shown to have a significant impact on typical fragmentation time and accumulation of fragmenting aggregates in intermediate modes. The developed theory and its results will be important for degradation of multistranded polymers, polymer networks, self-assembling structures, surface nanoclusters and nanotechnology, and formation and evolution of aerosol aggregates resulting from transport and industry emissions.

We investigated the mechanism that underlies the chiral selection on the direction of wrapping of DNA around a nucleosome core particle. A coarse-grained model for the formation of a nucleosome is introduced, in which DNA is treated as a semiflexible polymer and the histone core is modeled by a spherical particle. Asymmetric coupling between bending and twisting is incorporated into the model DNA, which is expected from the double-stranded helical structure of DNA. We show that the tendency of DNA to twist in a left-handed manner upon bending gives rise to the selective left-handed wrapping, provided that the size of the core particle is chosen appropriately. This result suggests the critical importance of the chiral asymmetry inherent in the bending-twisting elasticity of DNA as well as the size of the core in determining the handedness of wrapping in nucleosome formation.

A kind of two-dimensional acoustic metamaterial is designed so that it exhibits strong anisotropy along two orthogonal directions. Based on the rectangular equal frequency contour of this metamaterial, magnifying lenses for acoustic waves, analogous to electromagnetic hyperlenses demonstrated recently in the optical regime, can be realized. Such metamaterial may offer applications in imaging for systems that obey scalar wave equations.

We report on a first-principles molecular-dynamics study of structural and dynamical heterogeneity in supercooled liquid silicon. We find that highly tetrahedral configurations are intermittently formed and that spatially heterogeneous dynamics is concurrently induced in the deeply supercooled state $\left(1000\mathrm{K}\right)$. This heterogeneity is responsible for the anomalous structural relaxation characterized by the stretched-exponential function. The temporal structural fluctuation is found to give rise to the $1∕f$ dependence in the corresponding power spectral density. In a moderately supercooled state $\left(1600\mathrm{K}\right)$, the structural and dynamical heterogeneity is quite weak, in contrast to the deeply supercooled state. The applicability of the Stillinger-Weber potential to the deeply supercooled state is also discussed.

Stochastic coherence (SC) and self-induced stochastic resonance (SISR) are two distinct mechanisms of noise-induced coherent motion. For interacting SC and SISR oscillators, we find that whether or not phase synchronization is achieved depends sensitively on the coupling strength and noise intensities. Specifically, in the case of weak coupling, individual oscillators are insensitive to each other, whereas in the case of strong coupling, one fixed oscillator with optimal coherence can be entrained to the other, adjustable oscillator (i.e., its noise intensity is tunable), achieving phase-locking synchronization, as long as the tunable noise intensity is not beyond a threshold; such synchronization is lost otherwise. For an array lattice of SISR oscillators, except for coupling-enhanced coherence similar to that found in the case of coupled SC oscillators, there is an optimal network topology degree (i.e., number of coupled nodes), such that coherence and synchronization are optimally achieved, implying that the system-size resonance found in an ensemble of noise-driven bistable systems can occur in coupled SISR oscillators.

Pattern forming processes are abundant in nature. Here, we report on a particular pattern forming process. Upon withdrawal of fluid from a particle-fluid dispersion in a Hele-Shaw cell, the particles are shown to be left behind in intriguing mazelike patterns. The particles, initially being uniformly spread out in a disc, are slowly pulled inwards and together by capillary and pressure forces. Invading air forms branching fingers, whereas the particles are compiled into comparably narrow branches. These branches are connected in a treelike structure, taking the form of a maze. The characteristic length scale within the structure is found to decrease with the volume fraction of the particles and increase with the plate separation in the Hele-Shaw cell. We present a simulator designed to simulate this phenomenon, which reproduces qualitatively and quantitatively the experiments, as well as a theory that can predict the observed wavelengths.

Nonequilibrium steady states in an open system connecting two reservoirs of platelike colloidal particles are investigated by means of a recently proposed phenomenological dynamic density functional theory [M. Bier and R. van Roij, Phys. Rev. E 76, 021405 (2007)]. The platelike colloidal particles are approximated within the Zwanzig model of restricted orientations, which exhibits an isotropic-nematic bulk phase transition. Inhomogeneities of the local chemical potential generate a diffusion current which relaxes to a nonvanishing value if the two reservoirs coupled to the system sustain different chemical potentials. The relaxation process of initial states towards the steady state turns out to comprise two regimes: a smoothening of initial steplike structures followed by an ultimate relaxation of the slowest diffusive mode. The position of a nonequilibrium interface and the particle current of steady states depend nontrivially on the structure of the reservoirs due to the coupling between translational and orientational degrees of freedom of the fluid.