We study the formation of a nonlinear localized high-dimensional optical beam in a lifetime-broadened three-state atomic system. We show that stable high-dimensional spatial optical solitons with extremely weak-light intensity can occur in such a highly resonant medium through a mechanism of electromagnetically induced transparency. We demonstrate that the interaction between two high-dimensional spatial optical solitons displays interesting properties and these solitons can be easily controlled by manipulating the coupling optical field of the system.

When a long line of initially stationary and unstressed touching particles is hit on one end by another particle, dynamical self-organized impulsive waves will be generated and propagating through the granular chain. In this paper we develop a continuous function to represent the initial impulse wave. Then the partial differential wave equations for chains of cylindrical granules, which can take such function as one of its solutions, are constructed and exactly coincided with the wave equation obtained by using Taylor series expansion. The properties of the impulse wave propagating, such as the attenuation of the wave and the forward momentum transfer are studied in detail based on our theoretical model, and the analytical solutions are supported by numerical simulations.

The dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method was used to simulate the flow in a system comprised of a fluid occupying the space between two cylinders rotating with equal angular velocities. The fluid, initially at rest, ultimately reaches a steady, linear velocity distribution (a rigid-body rotation). Since the induced flow field is solely associated with the no-slip boundary condition at the walls, we employed this system as a benchmark to examine the effect of bounce-back reflections, specular reflections, and Pivkin-Karniadakis no-slip boundary conditions, upon the steady-state velocity, density, and temperature distributions. An additional advantage of the foregoing system is that the fluid occupies inherently a finite bounded domain so that the results are affected by the prescribed no-slip boundary conditions only. Past benchmark systems such as Couette flow between two infinite parallel plates or Poiseuille flow in an infinitely long cylinder must employ artificial periodic boundary conditions at arbitrary upstream and downstream locations, a possible source of spurious effects. In addition, the effect of the foregoing boundary conditions on the time evolution of the simulated velocity profile was compared with that of the known, time-dependent analytical solution. It was shown that bounce-back reflection yields the best results for the velocity distributions with small fluctuations in density and temperature at the inner fluid domain and larger deviations near the walls. For the unsteady solutions a good fit is obtained if the DPD friction coefficient is proportional to the kinematic viscosity. Based on dimensional analysis and the numerical results a universal correlation is suggested between the friction coefficient and the kinematic viscosity.

Equilibrium phase transitions are associated with rearrangements of minima of a (Lagrangian) potential. Treatment of nonequilibrium systems requires doubling of degrees of freedom, which may be often interpreted as a transition from the “coordinate”- to the “phase”-space representation. As a result, one has to deal with the Hamiltonian formulation of the field theory instead of the Lagrangian one. We suggest a classification scheme of phase transitions in reaction-diffusion models based on the topology of the phase portraits of corresponding Hamiltonians. In models with an absorbing state such a topology is fully determined by intersecting curves of zero “energy.” We identify four families of topologically distinct classes of phase portraits stable upon renormalization group transformations.

General features of the stochastic dynamics of classical systems approaching a thermodynamic equilibrium Gibbs state are studied via the numerical analysis of time-dependent solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation for an overdamped particle in various monostable potentials. A large class of initial states can dynamically bifurcate during its time evolution into bimodal transient states, which in turn wear off when approaching the long-time regime. Suitable quantifiers characterizing this transient dynamical bimodality, such as its lifetime, the positions of maxima, and the time-dependent well depth of the probability distribution, are analyzed. Some potential applications are pointed out that make use of this interesting principle which is based on an appropriately chosen initial preparation procedure.

In order to describe non-Gaussian kinetics in weakly damped systems, the concept of continuous time random walks is extended to particles with finite inertia. One thus obtains a generalized Kramers-Fokker-Planck equation, which retains retardation effects, i.e., nonlocal couplings in time and space. It is shown that despite this complexity, exact solutions of this equation can be given in terms of superpositions of Gaussian distributions with varying variances. In particular, the long-time behavior of the respective low-order moments is calculated.

The response of a semiflexible polyelectrolyte chain to stretching in the regimes of moderate and weak screening is studied theoretically, with a special focus on DNA experiments. By using the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann description of electrostatic self-interactions of the chain, we explicitly demonstrate the applicability of the concept of effective charge to certain aspects of the problem. This charge can be extracted from the far-field asymptotic behavior of the electrostatic potential of the fully aligned chain. Surprisingly, in terms of the effective charge, the electrostatically renormalized persistence length can be formally described by the classical Odijk-Skolnick-Fixman formula, whose domain of applicability is normally limited to the linearized Debye-Hückel (DH) approximation. However, the short-scale behavior of the chain in the nonlinear regime deviates from the of DH-based result, even upon charge renormalization. This difference is revealed in the calculated stretching curves for strongly charged DNA. These results are in good agreement with recent experiments. In the limit of weak screening we predict the elastic response to have a distinctive two-stage character, with a peculiar intermediate “unstretchable” regime.

A hydrodynamic model for determining the electrophoretic speed of a polyelectrolyte through a nanopore is presented. It is assumed that the speed is determined by a balance of electrical and viscous forces arising from within the pore and that classical continuum electrostatics and hydrodynamics may be considered applicable. An explicit formula for the translocation speed as a function of the pore geometry and other physical parameters is obtained and is shown to be consistent with experimental measurements on DNA translocation through nanopores in silicon membranes. Experiments also show a weak dependence of the translocation speed on polymer length that is not accounted for by the present model. It is hypothesized that this is due to secondary effects that are neglected here.

We derive analytically the scaling behavior in the thermodynamic limit of the number of nonfrozen and relevant nodes in the most general class of critical Kauffman networks for any number of inputs per node, and for any choice of the probability distribution for the Boolean functions. By defining and analyzing a stochastic process that determines the frozen core we can prove that the mean number of nonfrozen nodes in any critical network with more than one input per node scales with the network size $N$ as $N^{2∕3}$, with only $N^{1∕3}$ nonfrozen nodes having two nonfrozen inputs and the number of nonfrozen nodes with more than two inputs being finite in the thermodynamic limit. Using these results we can conclude that the mean number of relevant nodes increases for large $N$ as $N^{1∕3}$, with only a finite number of relevant nodes having two relevant inputs, and a vanishing fraction of nodes having more than three of them. It follows that all relevant components apart from a finite number are simple loops, and that the mean number and length of attractors increases faster than any power law with network size.

We study the mutual coupling of chaotic lasers and observe both experimentally and in numeric simulations that there exists a regime of parameters for which two mutually coupled chaotic lasers establish isochronal synchronization, while a third laser coupled unidirectionally to one of the pair does not synchronize. We then propose a cryptographic scheme, based on the advantage of mutual coupling over unidirectional coupling, where all the parameters of the system are public knowledge. We numerically demonstrate that in such a scheme the two communicating lasers can add a message signal (compressed binary message) to the transmitted coupling signal and recover the message in both directions with high fidelity by using a mutual chaos pass filter procedure. An attacker, however, fails to recover an errorless message even if he amplifies the coupling signal.

The effects of decreasing the impulse transmitted by localized periodic pulses on the chaotic behavior of homogeneous chains of coupled nonlinear oscillators are studied. It is assumed that when the oscillators are driven synchronously, i.e., all driving pulses transmit the same impulse, the chains display chaotic dynamics. It is shown that decreasing the impulse transmitted by the pulses of the two free end oscillators results in regularization with the whole array exhibiting frequency synchronization, irrespective of the chain size. A maximum level of amplitude desynchrony as the pulses of the two end oscillators narrow is typically found, which is explained as the result of two competing universal mechanisms: desynchronization induced by localized heterogeneous pulses and oscillation death of the complete chain induced by drastic decreasing of the impulse transmitted by such localized pulses. These findings demonstrate that decreasing the impulse transmitted by localized external forces can suppress chaos and lead to frequency-locked states in networks of dissipative systems.

Segregation structures of granular mixtures in rotating drums represent classical examples of pattern formation in granular material. We investigate the coarsening of axial segregation patterns of slurries in a long horizontally rotating cylinder. The dynamics and the three-dimensional geometry of the segregation structures are analyzed with optical methods and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Previous studies have mainly considered global statistical features of the pattern dynamics. In order to get insight into driving mechanisms for the coarsening process, we focus on the details of the dissolution of individual bands. We treat the coarsening as a consequence of interactions of adjacent bands in the pattern, which are determined by their geometrical relations. In addition to initially homogeneous mixtures, which evolve to spontaneously formed patterns, we study the evolution of specially prepared simple initial states. The role of the three-dimensional geometry of the axial core in the dissolution process of segregation bands is demonstrated. Relations between geometry and dynamic processes are established, which may help to find the correct microscopic models for the coarsening mechanism.

The crystal-melt interfacial free energies of different crystal orientations and crystal forms for the hard-dumbbell systems have been calculated directly using a multistep thermodynamic perturbation method via nonequilibrium work measurements with a cleaving procedure. We found that for the plastic crystal phase, the interfacial free energies decrease as the reduced bond length $L^{*}$ increases and the anisotropy is very weak as in isotropic systems. On the other hand, for the orientationally ordered crystal phase, the interfacial free energies become more than three times larger and the anisotropy is about 13%. These results may have significant implications for our understanding on the nucleation kinetics in molecular systems and the search of optimal conditions of protein crystallization.

We present a general bifurcation in the synchronized dynamics of time-delay-coupled nonlinear oscillators. The relative phase between the oscillators jumps from zero to $\pi$ as a function of the coupling; this phase-flip bifurcation is accompanied by a discontinuous change in the frequency of the synchronized oscillators. This phenomenon is of broad relevance, being observed in regimes of oscillator death as well as in periodic, quasiperiodic, and chaotic dynamics. Time-delay coupling is necessary for the phase-flip bifurcation. We illustrate the phenomenon, and present analytical results for paradigmatic nonlinear systems. Possible applications are discussed.

Though the notion of phase synchronization has been well studied in chaotic dynamical systems without delay, it has not been realized yet in chaotic time-delay systems exhibiting non-phase-coherent hyperchaotic attractors. In this paper we report identification of phase synchronization in coupled time-delay systems exhibiting hyperchaotic attractor. We show that there is a transition from nonsynchronized behavior to phase and then to generalized synchronization as a function of coupling strength. These transitions are characterized by recurrence quantification analysis, by phase differences based on a transformation of the attractors, and also by the changes in the Lyapunov exponents. We have found these transitions in coupled piecewise linear and in Mackey-Glass time-delay systems.

An alternative approach, the kinetically reduced local Navier-Stokes (KRLNS) equations for the grand potential and the momentum, is proposed for the simulation of low Mach number flows. The Taylor-Green vortex flow is considered in the KRLNS framework, and compared to the results of the direct numerical simulation of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The excellent agreement between the KRLNS equations and the incompressible nonlocal Navier-Stokes equations for this nontrivial time-dependent flow indicates that the former is a viable alternative for computational fluid dynamics at low Mach numbers.

Flows of droplets through networks of microchannels differ significantly from the flow of simple fluids. Our report focuses on the paths of individual droplets through the simplest possible network: a channel that splits into two arms that subsequently recombine. This simple system exhibits complex patterns of flow: both periodic and irregular, depending on the frequency at which the drops are fed into the “loop.” A numerical model explains these results and shows regions of regular patterns separated by regions of high complexity. Our results elicit new questions regarding the dynamics of flow of discrete elements of fluids through networks, and point to potential opportunities and difficulties in the design of integrated mini-laboratories operating on droplets.

In analogy to a perturbed harmonic oscillator, we calculate the fundamental and some other higher order soliton solutions of the nonlocal nonlinear Schödinger equation (NNLSE) in the second approximation in the generally nonlocal case. Comparing with numerical simulations we show that soliton solutions in the second approximation can describe the generally nonlocal soliton states of the NNLSE more exactly than that in the zeroth approximation. We show that for the nonlocal case of an exponential-decay type nonlocal response the Gaussian-function-like soliton solutions cannot describe the nonlocal soliton states exactly even in the strongly nonlocal case. The properties of such nonlocal solitons are investigated. In the strongly nonlocal limit, the soliton’s power and phase constant are both in inverse proportion to the fourth power of its beam width for the nonlocal case of a Gaussian function type nonlocal response, and are both in inverse proportion to the third power of its beam width for the nonlocal case of an exponential-decay type nonlocal response.

We investigate the stability of a granular monolayer composed of spherical grains on an inclined plate. When the tilt angle $\alpha$ increases, some reorganizations are observed throughout the pile. The packing fraction $\rho$ of the packing evolves by successive jumps. Those discontinuous events precede the collapse of the pile at a critical angle ${\alpha }_c$. The occurrence of precursors before avalanches is modeled by stop-and-go motions of blocks due to the competition between sliding friction and the Janssen effect [J. Durand, Sands, Powders, and Grains: An Introduction to the Physics of Granular Materials (Springer-Verlag, New York, 2000)].