Even though transitivity is a central structural feature of social networks, its influence on epidemic spread on coevolving networks has remained relatively unexplored. Here we introduce and study an adaptive susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) epidemic model wherein the infection and network coevolve with nontrivial probability to close triangles during edge rewiring, leading to substantial reinforcement of network transitivity. This model provides an opportunity to study the role of transitivity in altering the SIS dynamics on a coevolving network. Using numerical simulations and approximate master equations (AMEs), we identify and examine a rich set of dynamical features in the model. In many cases, AMEs including transitivity reinforcement provide accurate predictions of stationary-state disease prevalence and network degree distributions. Furthermore, for some parameter settings, the AMEs accurately trace the temporal evolution of the system. We show that higher transitivity reinforcement in the model leads to lower levels of infective individuals in the population, when closing a triangle is the dominant rewiring mechanism. These methods and results may be useful in developing ideas and modeling strategies for controlling SIS-type epidemics.

Snakes' bodies are covered in scales that make it easier to slide in some directions than in others. This frictional anisotropy allows for sliding locomotion with an undulatory gait, one of the most common for snakes. Isotropic friction is a simpler situation (that arises with snake robots, for example) but is less understood. In this work we regularize a model for sliding locomotion to allow for static friction. We then propose a robust iterative numerical method to study the efficiency of a wide range of motions under isotropic Coulomb friction. We find that simple undulatory motions give little net locomotion in the isotropic regime. We compute general time-harmonic motions of three-link bodies and find three local optima for efficiency. The top two involve static friction to some extent. We then propose a class of smooth body motions that have similarities to concertina locomotion (including the involvement of static friction) and can achieve optimal efficiency for both isotropic and anisotropic friction.

The two-liquids scenario for liquid water assumes the existence of two competing preferential local molecular structural states characterized by either low or high local density. While the former is expected to present good local order thus involving privileged structures, the latter is usually regarded as conforming a high-entropy unstructured state. A main difference in the local arrangement of such “classes” of water molecules can be inferred from the degree of translational order between the first and second molecular shells. This is so, since the low-local-density molecules present a clear gap between the first two shells while in the case of the high-local-density ones, one or more molecules from the second shell have collapsed toward the first one, thus populating the intershell region. Some structural indicators, like the widely employed local structure index and the recently introduced $\zeta$ index, have been devised precisely on the basis of this observation, being successful in detecting well-structured low-local-density molecules. However, the nature of the high-local-density state has been mainly disregarded over the years. In this work we employ molecular dynamics simulations for two water models (the extended simple point charge model and the five-site model) at the liquid and supercooled regimes combined with the inherent dynamics approach (energy minimizations of the instantaneous configurations) in order to both rationalize the detailed structural and topological information that these indicators provide and to advance in our understanding of the high-density state.

Using the contact dymanics method together with the finite element method, we simulate the uniaxial compression of assemblies of elastic cylinders. The numerical model accounts for finite deformations of the particles through the neo-Hookean constitutive equation and solid friction between the particles. A quantitative comparison with experiments carried out with centimetric rubberlike cylinders, with local deformations of the particles determined by image correlation, is proposed. We show that the simulations accurately capture the details of both the microstructure and the macroscopic behavior of the real granular system, demonstrating the relevancy of the numerical approach.

Localized plasma waves can be generated by suddenly ionizing extrinsic semiconductors with spatially periodic dopant densities. The built-in electrostatic potentials at the metallurgical junctions, combined with electron density ripples, offer the exact initial condition for exciting long-lasting plasma waves upon ionization. This method can create plasma waves with a frequency between a few terahertz to subpetahertz without substantial damping. The lingering plasma waves can seed backward Raman amplification in a wide range of resonance frequencies up to the extreme ultraviolet regime. Chirped wave vectors and curved wave fronts allow focusing the amplified beam in both longitudinal and transverse dimensions. The main limitation to this method appears to be obtaining sufficiently low plasma density from solid-state materials to avoid collisional damping.

We propose an analytical approach to study non-Markov random walks by employing an exact enumeration method. Using the method, we derive an exact expansion for the first-passage time (FPT) distribution of any continuous differentiable non-Markov random walk with Gaussian or non-Gaussian multivariate distribution. As an example, we study the FPT distribution of the fractional Brownian motion with a Hurst exponent $H\in (1/2,1)$ that describes numerous non-Markov stochastic phenomena in physics, biology, and geology and for which the limit $H=1/2$ represents a Markov process.

The performance enhancements observed in various models of continuous quantum thermal machines have been linked to the buildup of coherences in a preferred basis. But is this connection always an evidence of “quantum-thermodynamic supremacy”? By force of example, we show that this is not the case. In particular, we compare a power-driven three-level continuous quantum refrigerator with a four-level combined cycle, partly driven by power and partly by heat. We focus on the weak driving regime and find the four-level model to be superior since it can operate in parameter regimes in which the three-level model cannot and it may exhibit a larger cooling rate and, simultaneously, a better coefficient of performance. Furthermore, we find that the improvement in the cooling rate matches the increase in the stationary quantum coherences exactly. Crucially, though, we also show that the thermodynamic variables for both models follow from a classical representation based on graph theory. This implies that we can build incoherent stochastic-thermodynamic models with the same steady-state operation or, equivalently, that both coherent refrigerators can be emulated classically. More generally, we prove this for any $N$-level weakly driven device with a “cyclic” pattern of transitions. Therefore, even if coherence is present in a specific quantum thermal machine, it is often not essential to replicate the underlying energy conversion process.

We analyze an intermediate collective regime where amplitude oscillators distribute themselves along a closed, smooth, time-dependent curve $\mathcal{C}$, thereby maintaining the typical ordering of (identical) phase oscillators. This is achieved by developing a general formalism based on two partial differential equations, which describe the evolution of the probability density along $\mathcal{C}$ and of the shape of $\mathcal{C}$ itself. The formalism is specifically developed for Stuart-Landau oscillators, but it is general enough to apply to other classes of amplitude oscillators. The main achievements consist in (i) identification and characterization of a transition to self-consistent partial synchrony (SCPS), which confirms the crucial role played by higher Fourier harmonics in the coupling function; (ii) an analytical treatment of SCPS, including a detailed stability analysis; and (iii) the discovery of a different form of collective chaos, which can be seen as a generalization of SCPS and characterized by a multifractal probability density. Finally, we are able to describe given dynamical regimes at both the macroscopic and the microscopic level, thereby shedding additional light on the relationship between the two different levels of description.

We characterize the role of charge correlations in the adsorption of a short, rodlike anionic polyelectrolyte onto a similarly charged membrane. Our theory reveals two different mechanisms driving the like-charge polyelectrolyte-membrane complexation: In weakly charged membranes, repulsive polyelectrolyte-membrane interactions lead to the interfacial depletion and a parallel orientation of the polyelectrolyte with respect to the membrane; while in the intermediate membrane charge regime, the interfacial counterion excess gives rise to an attractive “salt-induced” image force. This furthermore results in an orientational transition from a parallel to a perpendicular configuration and a subsequent short-ranged like-charge adsorption of the polyelectrolyte to the substrate. A further increase of the membrane charge engenders a charge inversion, originating from surface-induced ionic correlations, that act as a separate mechanism capable of triggering the like-charge polyelectrolyte-membrane complexation over an extended distance interval from the membrane surface. The emerging picture of this complexation phenomenon identifies the interfacial “salt-induced” image forces as a powerful control mechanism in polyelectrolyte-membrane complexation.

We employ numerical simulations to study active transistor-like switches made from two-dimensional (2D) granular crystals containing two types of grains with the same size but different masses. We tune the mass contrast and arrangement of the grains to maximize the width of the frequency band gap in the device. The input signal is applied to a single grain on one side of the device, and the output signal is measured from another grain on the other side of the device. Changing the size of one or many grains tunes the pressure, which controls the vibrational response of the device. Switching between the on and off states is achieved using two mechanisms: (1) pressure-induced switching where the interparticle contact network is the same in the on and off states and (2) switching through contact breaking. In general, the performance of the acoustic switch, as captured by the gain ratio and switching time between the on and off states, is better for pressure-induced switching. We show that in these acoustic switches the gain ratio between the on and off states can be larger than ${10}^4$ and the switching time (multiplied by the driving frequency) is comparable to that obtained recently for sonic crystals and less than that for photonic transistor-like switches. Since the self-assembly of grains with different masses into 2D granular crystals is challenging, we describe simulations of circular grains with small circular knobs placed symmetrically around the perimeter mixed with circular grains without knobs. Using umbrella sampling techniques, we show that grains with six knobs most efficiently form the hexagonal crystals that yield the largest frequency band gap. Using the simulation results, we estimate the time required for vibration experiments to generate granular crystals of millimeter-sized steel beads with maximal band gaps.

Granular flow dynamics on a vertically vibrated pile is studied by means of both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. As already revealed, the depth-averaged velocity of a fully fluidized granular pile under strong vibration, which is measured by a high-speed laser profiler in the experiment, can be explained by the nonlinear diffusion transport model proposed by our previous paper [Tsuji et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 128001 (2018)]. In this paper, we report that a similar transport model can be applied to the relation between the surface velocity and slope in the experiment. These facts are also reproduced by particle-scale numerical simulations based on the discrete element method. In addition, using these numerical results, the velocity profile inside the fluidized pile is measured. As a result, we show that the flow velocity decreases exponentially with depth from the surface of the pile, which means that a clearly fluidized region, also known as shear band structure, is localized around the surface. However, its thickness grows proportionally with the local height of the pile, i.e., the shear band does not consist of a fluidized layer with a constant thickness. From these features, we finally demonstrate that the integration of this exponentially decreasing velocity profile is consistent with the depth-averaged velocity predicted by the nonlinear diffusion transport model.

There is no satisfactory model to explain the mean velocity profile of the whole turbulent layer in canonical wall-bounded flows. In this paper, a mean velocity profile expression is proposed for wall-bounded turbulent flows based on a recently proposed stochastic representation of fluid flows dynamics. This original approach, called modeling under location uncertainty, introduces in a rigorous way a subgrid term generalizing the eddy-viscosity assumption and an eddy-induced advection term resulting from turbulence inhomogeneity. This latter term gives rise to a theoretically well-grounded model for the transitional zone between the viscous sublayer and the turbulent sublayer. An expression of the small-scale velocity component is also provided in the viscous zone. Numerical assessments of the results are provided for turbulent boundary layer flows, pipe flows and channel flows at various Reynolds numbers.

Coalescing water droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces can detach from the surface without the aid of any external forces. This self-propelled droplet detachment mechanism is useful in many applications, such as phase change heat transfer enhancement, self-cleaning surfaces, and anti-icing and antidew coatings. In this article, the coalescence-induced droplet jumping in a three-phase system is numerically investigated. The gaps between the surface structures are filled with a liquid that is immiscible with water, e.g., lubricant. A mass-conserving lattice Boltzmann method is implemented to study the effects of several parameters, such as interfacial tensions, droplet size, and surface wettability on the jumping process. The numerical results show that for relatively high values of lubricant-water interfacial tensions and large surface-water contact angles ($>{150}^{\circ }$) the water droplets are capable of detaching. The critical droplet size for jumping is also highly dependent on the lubricant-water interfacial properties. The results of this study provide insights into the fluid-fluid and fluid-solid interactions and shed light on the underlying mechanisms involved in the droplet coalescence process on such surfaces.

A multiple-time-scaling (MTS) strategy that decouples the time discretization in different domains and enables flexible time-step coarsening, refinement, and stretching in the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for the convection diffusion equation is developed. The key in the multiple-time scaling is the satisfaction of physical interface conditions without nested iterations in each time step by implementing appropriate interface schemes for the distribution functions in the LBM. The applicability and second-order accuracy of the MTS-LBM approach is demonstrated with two numerical tests. Our approach greatly expands the avenue and expedites the progress of applying the LBM for modeling complex flows and transport phenomena involving multiphases and multicomponents with large property ratios.

In recent years the lattice Boltzmann (LB) methodology has been fruitfully extended to include the effects of thermal fluctuations. So far, all studied cases pertain to equilibrium fluctuations, i.e., fluctuations with respect to an equilibrium background state. In this paper we take a step further and present results of fluctuating LB simulations of a binary mixture confined between two parallel walls in the presence of a constant concentration gradient in the wall-to-wall direction. This is a paradigmatic setup for the study of nonequilibrium (NE) fluctuations, i.e., fluctuations with respect to a nonequilibrium state. We analyze the dependence of the structure factors for the hydrodynamical fields on the wave vector $\mathit{q}$ in both the directions parallel and perpendicular to the walls, highlighting the long-range (${\sim \left|\mathit{q}\right|}^{-4}$) nature of correlations in the NE framework. Results at the small scales (high wave numbers) quantitatively agree with the predictions of fluctuating hydrodynamics without fitting parameters. At larger scales (low wave numbers), however, results show finite-size effects induced by confinement and call for further studies aimed at controlling boundary conditions in the fluctuating LB framework as well as compressibility effects. Moreover, in the presence of a nonideal equation of state of the mixture, we also observe that the (spatially homogeneous) average pressure changes, due to a genuinely new contribution triggered by NE fluctuations. These NE pressure effects are studied at changing the system size and the concentration gradient. Taken all together, we argue that the results of this article are useful and instrumental to boost the applicability of the fluctuating LB methodology in the framework of NE fluctuations, possibly in conjunction with experiments.

Disordered hyperuniform packings (or dispersions) are unusual amorphous two-phase materials that are endowed with exotic physical properties. Such hyperuniform systems are characterized by an anomalous suppression of volume-fraction fluctuations at infinitely long-wavelengths, compared to ordinary disordered materials. While there has been growing interest in such singular states of amorphous matter, a major obstacle has been an inability to produce large samples that are perfectly hyperuniform due to practical limitations of conventional numerical and experimental methods. To overcome these limitations, we introduce a general theoretical methodology to construct perfectly hyperuniform packings in $d$-dimensional Euclidean space ${\mathbb{R}}^d$. Specifically, beginning with an initial general tessellation of space by disjoint cells that meets a “bounded-cell” condition, hard particles of general shape are placed inside each cell such that the local-cell particle packing fractions are identical to the global packing fraction. We prove that the constructed packings with a polydispersity in size are perfectly hyperuniform in the infinite-sample-size limit, regardless of particle shapes, positions, and numbers per cell. We use this theoretical formulation to devise an efficient and tunable algorithm to generate extremely large realizations of such packings. We employ two distinct initial tessellations: Voronoi as well as sphere tessellations. Beginning with Voronoi tessellations, we show that our algorithm can remarkably convert extremely large nonhyperuniform packings into hyperuniform ones in ${\mathbb{R}}^2$ and ${\mathbb{R}}^3$. Implementing our theoretical methodology on sphere tessellations, we establish the hyperuniformity of the classical Hashin-Shtrikman multiscale coated-spheres structures, which are known to be two-phase media microstructures that possess optimal effective transport and elastic properties. A consequence of our work is a rigorous demonstration that packings that have identical tessellations can either be nonhyperuniform or hyperuniform by simply tuning local characteristics. It is noteworthy that our computationally designed hyperuniform two-phase systems can easily be fabricated via state-of-the-art methods, such as 2D photolithographic and 3D printing technologies. In addition, the tunability of our methodology offers a route for the discovery of novel disordered hyperuniform two-phase materials.

We investigate a two-dimensional motion of a colloid in a harmonic trap driven out of equilibrium by an external nonconservative force producing a torque in the presence of a uniform magnetic field applied perpendicular to the plane of motion. We find a circulating steady-state current diagnostic to nonequilibrium. Unlikely in the overdamped limit, inertial motion requires a sufficient central force to reach steady state. The magnetic field can enhance or depress central force depending on its direction. We find that steady state exists only for a proper range of parameters such as mass, viscosity coefficient, stiffness of the harmonic potential, and the magnetic field. We rigorously derive the existence condition for the steady state. We examine the combined influence of nonconservative force and magnetic field on nonequilibrium characteristics. We find non-Boltzmann steady-state probability density function and circulating probability current. We show that nonnegative entropy production is composed of usual heat dissipation and unconventional contribution from velocity-dependence of the Lorentz force. We derive the full list of correlation functions, including position-velocity correlation function originated from nonequilibrium circulation. We finally give rigorous expression for the violation of fluctuation-dissipation relation. We verify our analytical results by using the Monte Carlo simulation.

We study quench dynamics in the many-body Hilbert space using two isolated systems with a finite number of interacting particles: a paradigmatic model of randomly interacting bosons and a dynamical (clean) model of interacting spins-$1/2$. For both systems in the region of strong quantum chaos, the number of components of the evolving wave function, defined through the number of principal components $N_{\mathrm{pc}}$ (or participation ratio), was recently found to increase exponentially fast in time [Phys. Rev. E 99, 010101(R) (2019)]. Here, we ask whether the out-of-time ordered correlator (OTOC), which is nowadays widely used to quantify instability in quantum systems, can manifest analogous time dependence. We show that $N_{\mathrm{pc}}$ can be formally expressed as the inverse of the sum of all OTOCs for projection operators. While none of the individual projection OTOCs show an exponential behavior, their sum decreases exponentially fast in time. The comparison between the behavior of the OTOC with that of the $N_{\mathrm{pc}}$ helps us better understand wave packet dynamics in the many-body Hilbert space, in close connection with the problems of thermalization and information scrambling.