Egg cartons, known as doubly sinusoidal surfaces, display a rich variety of saddles-cylinder-spherical patches organized with different spatial symmetries and connectivities. Egg carton surfaces, rich in functionalities, are observed in synthetic and biological materials, as well as across atomic and macroscopic scales. In this work we use the liquid crystal shape equation in the absence of elastic effects and normal stress jumps to predict and classify a family of uniaxial, equibiaxial, and biaxial egg cartons, according to the periodicities of the surface director field in nematic (N) and cholesteric (N*) liquid crystals under the presence of anisotropic surface tension (anchoring). Egg carton surface shape periodic solutions to the nonlinear and linearized liquid crystal shape equations predict that the mean curvature is a linear function of the orthogonal (along the surface normal) splay and bend contributions. Mixtures of egg carton surfaces (uniaxial, equibiaxial, and biaxial) emerge according to the symmetries of the nonsingular director field, and the spatial distributions of the director escape into the third dimension; pure uniaxial egg cartons emerge when the director escape has linelike geometries and mixtures of egg cartons arise under source or sink orientation lattices. Orientation symmetry and permutation analysis are incorporated into a full curvature (Casorati, shape parameter, mean curvature, and Gaussian curvature) characterization. Under a fixed anchoring parameter, conditions for maximal nanoscale curvedness and microscale maximal shape gradient diversity are identified. The present results contribute to various pathways to surface pattern formation using intrinsic anisotropic interfacial tension.

Kolmogorov's 1941 (K41) framework remains central to the understanding of turbulent flows. However, in unsteady turbulence, K41's critical equilibrium assumption is expected to hold in an asymptotic manner, as the Reynolds number and wave numbers tend to infinity, rendering K41 not strictly valid at finite wave numbers. This work proposes a generalization of K41 for out-of-equilibrium effects and cascades far from initial conditions. The main result is a correction to the $-5/3$ law for out-of-equilibrium eddies, unrelated to intermittency effects. Experimental and numerical evidence is provided in support of the theoretical results.

It is known that, after a quench to zero temperature ($T=0$), two-dimensional ($d=2$) Ising ferromagnets with short-range interactions do not always relax to the ordered state. They can also fall in infinitely long-lived striped metastable states with a finite probability. In this paper, we study how the abundance of striped states is affected by long-range interactions. We investigate the relaxation of $d=2$ Ising ferromagnets with power-law interactions by means of Monte Carlo simulations at both $T=0$ and $T\ne 0$. For $T=0$ and the finite system size, the striped metastable states are suppressed by long-range interactions. In the thermodynamic limit, their occurrence probabilities are consistent with the short-range case. For $T\ne 0$, the final state is always ordered. Further, the equilibration occurs at earlier times with an increase in the strength of the interactions.

Boundary conditions for fluid-dynamic variables of strongly nonequilibrium multicomponent gas mixture flows in slip regime are derived systematically by two different approaches. The flow is described in the framework of the state-to-state model for coupled detailed vibrational and chemical kinetics. The specular-diffusive model is applied for particles interaction with the solid wall, and the surface is assumed to be partially catalytic with possible state-specific chemical reactions and vibrational energy transitions described by a simple model based on the analogy with recombination coefficients. The first theoretical approach uses the technique proposed by Grad whereas the second one is based on the kinetic boundary condition. It is shown that for the Maxwell scattering kernel the two approaches are equivalent; at the same time, the approach based on the kinetic boundary condition provides more rigorous mathematical description of the problem and can be easily generalized for other scattering kernels and gas-surface interaction models accounting for surface inner geometry. The resulting boundary conditions are expressed in terms of state-specific transport coefficients: thermal conductivity, multicomponent diffusion of vibrational states, thermal diffusion, shear and bulk viscosity, and relaxation pressure. The dependence of the boundary conditions on the normal mean stress is obtained for the first time. Under thermal equilibrium conditions, the derived expressions reduce to known relations obtained earlier in the one-temperature approach.

For steady-state autonomous absorption refrigerators operating in the linear response regime, we show that there exists a hierarchy between the relative fluctuation of currents for cold, hot, and work terminals. Our proof requires the Onsager reciprocity relation along with the refrigeration condition that sets the direction of the mean currents for each terminal. As a consequence, the universal bounds on the mean cooling power, obtained following the thermodynamic uncertainty relations, follow a hierarchy. Interestingly, within this hierarchy, the tightest bound is given in terms of the work current fluctuation. Furthermore, the relative uncertainty hierarchy introduces a bound on cooling efficiency that is tighter than the bound obtained from the thermodynamic uncertainty relations. Interestingly, all of these bounds saturate in the tight-coupling limit. We test the validity of our results for two paradigmatic absorption refrigerator models: (i) a four-level working fluid and (ii) a two-level working fluid, operating in the weak (additive) and strong (multiplicative) system-bath interaction regimes, respectively.

We study quantum phase transitions in Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains with a staggered power-law decaying long-range interactions. Employing the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm and the fidelity susceptibility as the criticality measure, we establish more accurate values of quantum critical points than the results obtained from the spin-wave approximation, quantum Monte Carlo, and DMRG in literatures. The deviation is especially evident for strong long-range interactions. We extend isotropic long-range interactions to the anisotropic cases and find that kaleidoscope of quantum phases emerge from the interplay of anisotropy of the long-range exchange interaction and symmetry breaking. We demonstrate nonfrustrating long-range interactions induce the true long-range order in Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains with a continuous symmetry breaking, lifting the restrictions imposed by the Mermin-Wagner theorem.

We study effects of competing pairwise higher-order interactions (HOI) with alternating signs and exponentially decreasing intensity on critical behavior of the $XY$ model. It is found that critical properties of such a generalized model can be very different from the standard $XY$ model and can strongly depend on whether the number of HOI terms is odd or even. Inclusion of any odd number of HOI terms results in two consecutive phase transitions to distinct ferromagnetic quasi-long-range order phases. Even number of HOI terms leads to two phase transitions only if the decay of the HOI intensities is relatively slow. Then the high-temperature transition to the ferromagnetic phase is followed by another transition to a peculiar competition-induced canted ferromagnetic phase. In the limit of an infinite number of HOI terms only one phase transition is confirmed, and under the conditions of fierce competition between the even and odd terms the transition temperature can be suppressed practically to zero.

Considerable progress has recently been made with geometrical approaches to understanding and controlling small out-of-equilibrium systems, but a mathematically rigorous foundation for these methods has been lacking. Towards this end, we develop a perturbative solution to the Fokker-Planck equation for one-dimensional driven Brownian motion in the overdamped limit enabled by the spectral properties of the corresponding single-particle Schrödinger operator. The perturbation theory is in powers of the inverse characteristic timescale of variation of the fastest varying control parameter, measured in units of the system timescale, which is set by the smallest eigenvalue of the corresponding Schrödinger operator. It applies to any Brownian system for which the Schrödinger operator has a confining potential. We use the theory to rigorously derive an exact formula for a Riemannian “thermodynamic” metric in the space of control parameters of the system. We show that up to second-order terms in the perturbation theory, optimal dissipation-minimizing driving protocols minimize the length defined by this metric. We also show that a previously proposed metric is calculable from our exact formula with corrections that are exponentially suppressed in a characteristic length scale. We illustrate our formula using the two-dimensional example of a harmonic oscillator with time-dependent spring constant in a time-dependent electric field. Lastly, we demonstrate that the Riemannian geometric structure of the optimal control problem is emergent; it derives from the form of the perturbative expansion for the probability density and persists to all orders of the expansion.

In this work we consider a quite general class of two-species hyperbolic reaction-advection-diffusion system with the main aim of elucidating the role played by inertial effects in the dynamics of oscillatory periodic patterns. To this aim, first, we use linear stability analysis techniques to deduce the conditions under which wave (or oscillatory Turing) instability takes place. Then, we apply multiple-scale weakly nonlinear analysis to determine the equation which rules the spatiotemporal evolution of pattern amplitude close to criticality. This investigation leads to a cubic complex Ginzburg-Landau (CCGL) equation which, owing to the functional dependence of the coefficients here involved on the inertial times, reveals some intriguing consequences. To show in detail the richness of such a scenario, we present, as an illustrative example, the pattern dynamics occurring in the hyperbolic generalization of the extended Klausmeier model. This is a simple two-species model used to describe the migration of vegetation stripes along the hillslope of semiarid environments. By means of a thorough comparison between analytical predictions and numerical simulations, we show that inertia, apart from enlarging the region of the parameter plane where wave instability occurs, may also modulate the key features of the coherent structures, solution of the CCGL equation. In particular, it is proven that inertial effects play a role, not only during transient regime from the spatially-homogeneous steady state toward the patterned state, but also in altering the amplitude, the wavelength, the angular frequency, and even the stability of the phase-winding solutions.

We demonstrate that nonlinear magnetic solitary excitations (solitons) traveling through a Heisenberg spin chain may be used as a robust tool capable of coherent control of the qubit's state. The physical problem is described by a Hamiltonian involving the interaction between the soliton and the qubit. We show that under certain conditions the generic Hamiltonian may be mapped on that of a qubit two-level system with matrix elements depending on the soliton parameters. We considered the action of a bright and a dark soliton depending on the driving nonlinear wave function. We considered a local interaction restricted the closest to the qubit spin in the chain. We computed the expressions of the physical quantities of interest for all cases and analyzed their behavior in some special limits.

The emergence of the chimera state as the counterintuitive spatial coexistence of synchronous and asynchronous regimes is addressed here in a continuum chemical oscillator system by implementing a relevant complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with global coupling. This study systematically acquires and characterizes the evolution of nonequilibrium thermodynamic entities corresponding to the chimera state. The temporal evolution of the entropy production rate exhibits a beat pattern with a series of equidistant spectral lines in the frequency domain. Symmetric profiles associated with the incoherent regime appear in descriptions of the dynamics and thermodynamics of the chimera. It is shown that identifying the semigrand Gibbs free energy of the state as the Gabor elementary function can reveal the guiding role of the information uncertainty principle in shaping the chimera energetics.

Cooperation and competition between pathogens can alter the amount of individuals affected by a coinfection. Nonetheless, the evolution of the pathogens' behavior has been overlooked. Here, we consider a coevolutionary model where the simultaneous spreading is described by a two-pathogen susceptible-infected-recovered model in an either synergistic or competitive manner. At the end of each epidemic season, the pathogens species reproduce according to their fitness that, in turn, depends on the payoff accumulated during the spreading season in a hawk-and-dove game. This coevolutionary model displays a rich set of features. Specifically, the evolution of the pathogens' strategy induces abrupt transitions in the epidemic prevalence. Furthermore, we observe that the long-term dynamics results in a single, surviving pathogen species, and that the cooperative behavior of pathogens can emerge even under unfavorable conditions.

Coherence resonance (CR) describes a counterintuitive phenomenon in which the optimal oscillatory responses in nonlinear systems are shaped by a suitable noise amplitude. This phenomenon has been observed in neural systems. In this research, the generation of double coherence resonances (DCRs) due to white noise is investigated in a three-dimensional reduced Hodgkin-Huxley neuron model with multiple-timescale feature. We show that additive white noise can induce DCRs from the resting state near a subcritical Hopf bifurcation. The appearance of DCRs is related to the changes of the firing pattern aroused by the increases of the noise amplitude. The underlying dynamical mechanisms for the appearance of the DCRs and the changes of the firing pattern are interpreted using the phase space analysis and the dynamics of the stable focus-node near the subcritical Hopf bifurcation. We find that the multiple-timescale dynamics is essential for generating the DCRs and different firing patterns. The results not only present a case in which noise can induce DCRs near a Hopf bifurcation but also provide its dynamical mechanism, which enriches the phenomena in nonlinear dynamics and provides further understanding on the roles of noise in neural systems with multiple-timescale feature.

Assessing the systemic effects of uncertainty that arises from agents' partial observation of the true states of the world is critical for understanding a wide range of scenarios, from navigation and foraging behavior to the provision of renewable resources and public infrastructures. Yet previous modeling work on agent learning and decision-making either lacks a systematic way to describe this source of uncertainty or puts the focus on obtaining optimal policies using complex models of the world that would impose an unrealistically high cognitive demand on real agents. In this work we aim to efficiently describe the emergent behavior of biologically plausible and parsimonious learning agents faced with partially observable worlds. Therefore we derive and present deterministic reinforcement learning dynamics where the agents observe the true state of the environment only partially. We showcase the broad applicability of our dynamics across different classes of partially observable agent-environment systems. We find that partial observability creates unintuitive benefits in several specific contexts, pointing the way to further research on a general understanding of such effects. For instance, partially observant agents can learn better outcomes faster, in a more stable way, and even overcome social dilemmas. Furthermore, our method allows the application of dynamical systems theory to partially observable multiagent leaning. In this regard we find the emergence of catastrophic limit cycles, a critical slowing down of the learning processes between reward regimes, and the separation of the learning dynamics into fast and slow directions, all caused by partial observability. Therefore, the presented dynamics have the potential to become a formal, yet practical, lightweight and robust tool for researchers in biology, social science, and machine learning to systematically investigate the effects of interacting partially observant agents.

This work reports on two results. At first we revisit the Berg and Purcell calculation that provides a lower bound to the error in concentration measurement by cells by considering the realistic case when the cell starts measuring the moment it comes in contact with the chemoattractants, instead of measuring after equilibrating with the chemotactic concentration as done in the classic Berg and Purcell paper. We find that the error in concentration measurement is still the same as evaluated by Berg and Purcell. We next derive a lower bound on measurement time below which it is not possible for the cell to discern extracellular chemotactic gradients through spatial sensing mechanisms. This bound is independent of diffusion rate and concentration of the chemoattracts and is instead set by detachment rate of ligands from the cell receptors. The result could help explain experimental observations.

We theoretically study orientational structures in chiral magnetics and cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) nanosystems confined in the slab geometry. Our analysis is based on the model that, in addition to the exchange and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, takes into account the bulk and surface anisotropies. In CLC films, these anisotropies describe the energy of interaction with external magnetic/electric field and the anchoring energy assuming that magnetic/electric anisotropy is negative and the boundary conditions are homeotropic. We have computed the phase diagram and found that the ground state of the film is represented by various delocalized structures depending on the bulk and surface anisotropy parameters, ${\kappa }^b$ and ${\kappa }^s$. These include the $z$ helix and the $z$ cone states, the oblique, and the $x$ helicoids. The minimum energy paths connecting the ground state and metastable helicoids and the energy barriers separating these states are evaluated. We have shown that there is a variety of localized topological structures such as the skyrmion tube, the toron, and the bobber that can be embedded in different ground states including the $z$ cone (conical phase) and tilted fingerprint states. We have also found the structure called the leech that can be viewed as an intermediate state between the toron and the skyrmion tube.

Below the roughening transition, crystal surfaces exhibit nanoscale line defects, steps, that move by exchanging atoms with their environment. In homoepitaxy, we analytically show how the motion of a step train in vacuum under strong desorption can be approximately described by nonlinear laws that depend on local geometric features such as the curvature of each step, as well as suitably defined effective terrace widths. We assume that each step edge, a free boundary, can be represented by a smooth curve in a fixed reference plane for sufficiently long times. Besides surface diffusion and evaporation, the processes under consideration include kinetic step-step interactions in slowly varying geometries, material deposition on the surface from above, attachment and detachment of atoms at steps, step edge diffusion, and step permeability. Our methodology relies on boundary integral equations for the adatom fluxes responsible for step flow. By applying asymptotics, which effectively treat the diffusive term of the free boundary problem as a singular perturbation, we describe an intimate connection of universal character between step kinetics and local geometry.

The plane Poiseuille flow is one of the elementary flow configurations. Although its laminar-turbulent transition mechanism has been investigated intensively in the last century, the significant difference in the critical Reynolds number between the experiments and the theory lacks a clear explanation. In this paper, an attempt is made to reduce this gap by analyzing the solution of the Reynolds-Orr equation. Recent published results have shown that the usage of enstrophy (the volume integral of the squared vorticity) instead of the kinetic energy as the norm of perturbations predicts higher Reynolds numbers in the two-dimensional case. In addition, other research show has shown an improvement of the original Reynolds-Orr energy equation using the weighted norm in a tilted coordinate system. In this paper the enstrophy is used in three dimensions combined with the tilted coordinate system approach. The zero-enstrophy-growth constraint is applied to the classical Reynolds-Orr equation, and then the solution is further refined in the tilted coordinate system. The results are compared to direct numerical simulations published previously.

In this work, we propose a method to investigate controllable qubit-resonator interactions in a Dicke model with driven biased term. The nonlinearity of the spectrum, which can be induced by qubit-resonator interactions, plays an important role in such controllable interactions. To gain insight into the mechanism of the nonlinearity, we perform a unitary transformation of the Hamiltonian. The results show that the nonlinearity of the transformed Hamiltonian depends on the qubit-resonator coupling strength. The general forms of the effective Hamiltonians are discussed in detail based on the frequency modulation approach. The dynamical evolution can be switched on and off by adjusting the modulation parameters. By utilizing such controllable interactions, we discuss the creation of Dicke states and the arbitrary superposition of Dicke states. We also consider the nonlinearity of the energy level for the limit of large qubit numbers. In the thermodynamics limit, the Kerr type nonlinearity is induced from “magnon”-resonator coupling, and the selective preparation of “magnon” Fock states can be studied under a “magnon” scenario.

To infer eigenvalues of the infinite-dimensional Koopman operator, we study the leading eigenvalues of the autocovariance matrix associated with a given observable of a dynamical system. For any observable $f$ for which all the time-delayed autocovariance exist, we construct a Hilbert space ${\mathcal{H}}_f$ and a Koopman-like operator $\mathcal{K}$ that acts on ${\mathcal{H}}_f$. We prove that the leading eigenvalues of the autocovariance matrix has one-to-one correspondence with the energy of $f$ that is represented by the eigenvectors of $\mathcal{K}$. The proof is associated to several representation theorems of isometric operators on a Hilbert space, and the weak-mixing property of the observables represented by the continuous spectrum. We also provide an alternative proof of the weakly mixing property. When $f$ is an observable of an ergodic dynamical system which has a finite invariant measure $\mu , {\mathcal{H}}_f$ coincides with closure in $L^2(X,d\mu )$ of Krylov subspace generated by $f$, and $\mathcal{K}$ coincides with the classical Koopman operator. The main theorem sheds light to the theoretical foundation of several semi-empirical methods, including singular spectrum analysis (SSA), data-adaptive harmonic analysis (DAHD), Hankel DMD, and Hankel alternative view of Koopman analysis (HAVOK). It shows that, when the system is ergodic and has finite invariant measure, the leading temporal empirical orthogonal functions indeed correspond to the Koopman eigenfrequencies. A theorem-based practical methodology is then proposed to identify the eigenfrequencies of $\mathcal{K}$ from a given time series. It builds on the fact that the convergence of the renormalized eigenvalues of the Gram matrix is a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of $\mathcal{K}\text{−}\mathrm{eigenfrequencies}$. Numerical illustrating results on simple low dimensional systems and real interpolated ocean sea-surface height data are presented and discussed.