arXiv subjects

B. Spagnolo

Publications and source records attributed to B. Spagnolo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Stochastic resonance in a metal-oxide memristive device

The stochastic resonance phenomenon has been studied experimentally and theoretically for a state-of-art metal-oxide memristive device based on yttria-stabilized zirconium dioxide and tantalum pentoxide, which exhibits bipolar filamentary resistive switching of anionic type. The effect of white Gaussian noise superimposed on the sub-threshold sinusoidal driving signal is analyzed through the time series statistics of the resistive switching parameters, the spectral response to a periodic perturbation and the signal-to-noise ratio at the output of the nonlinear system. The stabilized resistive switching and the increased memristance response are revealed in the observed regularities at an optimal noise intensity corresponding to the stochastic resonance phenomenon and interpreted using a stochastic memristor model taking into account an external noise source added to the control voltage. The obtained results clearly show that noise and fluctuations can play a constructive role in nonlinear memristive systems far from equilibrium.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Quantum optics with giant atoms in a structured photonic bath

We present a general framework to tackle quantum optics problems with giant atoms, i.e. quantum emitters each coupled {\it non-locally} to a structured photonic bath (typically a lattice) of any dimension. The theory encompasses the calculation and general properties of Green's functions, atom-photon bound states (BSs), collective master equations and decoherence-free Hamiltonians (DFHs), and is underpinned by a formalism where a giant atom is formally viewed as a normal atom lying at a fictitious location. As a major application, we provide for the first time a general criterion to predict/engineer DFHs of giant atoms, which can be applied both in and out of the photonic continuum and regardless of the structure or dimensionality of the photonic bath. This is used to show novel DFHs in 2D baths such as a square lattice and photonic graphene.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Enhancement of stability of metastable states in the presence of L\'{e}vy noise

The barrier-crossing event for superdiffusion characterized by symmetric L\'{e}vy flights is analyzed. Starting from the fractional Fokker-Planck equation, we derive an integro-differential equation along with the necessary conditions to calculate the mean residence time of a particle within a fixed interval. We consider an arbitrary smooth potential profile, particularly metastable, with a sink and L\'{e}vy noise characterized by both an arbitrary index $\alpha$ and arbitrary noise intensity parameter. For the specific case of L\'{e}vy flights with an index $\alpha = 1$ and a cubic metastable potential, a closed expression for the mean residence time is obtained in quadratures. The analytical results reveal an enhancement of the mean residence time in the metastable state due to the influence of L\'{e}vy noise.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2016

Noise Induced Phenomena in the Dynamics of Two Competing Species

Noise through its interaction with the nonlinearity of the living systems can give rise to counter-intuitive phenomena. In this paper we shortly review noise induced effects in different ecosystems, in which two populations compete for the same resources. We also present new results on spatial patterns of two populations, while modeling real distributions of anchovies and sardines. The transient dynamics of these ecosystems are analyzed through generalized Lotka-Volterra equations in the presence of multiplicative noise, which models the interaction between the species and the environment. We find noise induced phenomena such as quasi-deterministic oscillations, stochastic resonance, noise delayed extinction, and noise induced pattern formation. In addition, our theoretical results are validated with experimental findings. Specifically the results, obtained by a coupled map lattice model, well reproduce the spatial distributions of anchovies and sardines, observed in a marine ecosystem. Moreover, the experimental dynamical behavior of two competing bacterial populations in a meat product and the probability distribution at long times of one of them are well reproduced by a stochastic microbial predictive model.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2016

Modeling of Sensory Characteristics Based on the Growth of Food Spoilage Bacteria

During last years theoretical works shed new light and proposed new hypothesis on the mechanisms which regulate the time behaviour of biological populations in different natural systems. Despite of this, the role of environmental variables in ecological systems is still an open question. Filling this gap of knowledge is a crucial task for a deeper comprehension of the dynamics of biological populations in real ecosystems. In this work we study how the dynamics of food spoilage bacteria influences the sensory characteristics of fresh fish specimens. This topic is crucial for a better understanding of the role played by the bacterial growth on the organoleptic properties, and for the quality evaluation and risk assessment of food products. We therefore analyze the time behaviour, in fresh fish specimens, of sensory characteristics starting from the growth curves of two spoilage bacterial communities. The theoretical study, initially based on a deterministic model, exploits experimental temperature profiles. As a first step, a model of predictive microbiology is used to reproduce the experimental behaviour of the two bacterial populations. Afterwards, the theoretical bacterial growths are converted, through suitable differential equations, into "sensory" scores, based on the Quality Index Method (QIM), a scoring system for freshness and quality sensory estimation of fishery products. As a third step, the theoretical curves of QIM scores are compared with the experimental data obtained by sensory analysis. Finally, the differential equations for QIM scores are modified by adding terms of multiplicative white noise, which mimics the effects of uncertainty and variability in sensory analysis. A better agreement between experimental and theoretical QIM scores is observed, in some cases, in the presence of suitable values of noise intensity respect to the deterministic analysis.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2015

Stabilization of quantum metastable states by dissipation

Normally, quantum fluctuations enhance the escape from metastable states in the presence of dissipation. Here we show that dissipation can enhance the stability of a quantum metastable system, consisting of a particle moving in a strongly asymmetric double well potential, interacting with a thermal bath. We find that the escape time from the metastable state has a nonmonotonic behavior versus the system-bath coupling and the temperature, producing a stabilizing effect.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Design of a Lambda configuration in artificial coherent nanostructures

The implementation of a three-level Lambda System in artificial atoms would allow to perform advanced control tasks typical of quantum optics in the solid state realm, with photons in the $\mathrm{μm}$/mm range. However hardware constraints put an obstacle since protection from decoherence is often conflicting with efficient coupling to external fields. We address the problem of performing conventional STImulated Raman Adiabatic Passage (STIRAP) in the presence of low-frequency noise. We propose two strategies to defeat decoherence, based on "optimal symmetry breaking" and dynamical decoupling. We suggest how to apply to the different implementations of superconducting artificial atoms, stressing the key role of non-Markovianity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Design of a Lambda system for population transfer in superconducting nanocircuits

The implementation of a Lambda scheme in superconducting artificial atoms could allow detec- tion of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) and other quantum manipulations in the microwave regime. However symmetries which on one hand protect the system against decoherence, yield selection rules which may cancel coupling to the pump external drive. The tradeoff between efficient coupling and decoherence due to broad-band colored Noise (BBCN), which is often the main source of decoherence is addressed, in the class of nanodevices based on the Cooper pair box (CPB) design. We study transfer efficiency by STIRAP, showing that substantial efficiency is achieved for off-symmetric bias only in the charge-phase regime. We find a number of results uniquely due to non-Markovianity of BBCN, namely: (a) the efficiency for STIRAP depends essentially on noise channels in the trapped subspace; (b) low-frequency fluctuations can be analyzed and represented as fictitious correlated fluctuations of the detunings of the external drives; (c) a simple figure of merit for design and operating prescriptions allowing the observation of STIRAP is proposed. The emerging physical picture also applies to other classes of coherent nanodevices subject to BBCN.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Spatio-temporal behaviour of the deep chlorophyll maximum in Mediterranean Sea: Development of a stochastic model for picophytoplankton dynamics

In this paper, by using a stochastic reaction-diffusion-taxis model, we analyze the picophytoplankton dynamics in the basin of the Mediterranean Sea, characterized by poorly mixed waters. The model includes intraspecific competition of picophytoplankton for light and nutrients. The multiplicative noise sources present in the model account for random fluctuations of environmental variables. Phytoplankton distributions obtained from the model show a good agreement with experimental data sampled in two different sites of the Sicily Channel. The results could be extended to analyze data collected in different sites of the Mediterranean Sea and to devise predictive models for phytoplankton dynamics in oligotrophic waters.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2011

Environmental Noise and Nonlinear Relaxation in Biological Systems

We analyse the effects of environmental noise in three different biological systems: (i) mating behaviour of individuals of \emph{Nezara viridula} (L.) (Heteroptera Pentatomidae); (ii) polymer translocation in crowded solution; (iii) an ecosystem described by a Verhulst model with a multiplicative Lévy noise.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2011

Evidence of stochastic resonance in the mating behavior of Nezara viridula (L.)

We investigate the role of the noise in the mating behavior between individuals of Nezara viridula (L.), by analyzing the temporal and spectral features of the non-pulsed type female calling song emitted by single individuals. We have measured the threshold level for the signal detection, by performing experiments with the calling signal at different intensities and analyzing the insect response by directionality tests performed on a group of male individuals. By using a sub-threshold signal and an acoustic Gaussian noise source, we have investigated the insect response for different levels of noise, finding behavioral activation for suitable noise intensities. In particular, the percentage of insects which react to the sub-threshold signal, shows a non-monotonic behavior, characterized by the presence of a maximum, for increasing levels of the noise intensity. This constructive interplay between external noise and calling signal is the signature of the non-dynamical stochastic resonance phenomenon. Finally, we describe the behavioral activation statistics by a soft threshold model which shows stochastic resonance. We find that the maximum of the ensemble average of the input-output cross-correlation occurs at a value of the noise intensity very close to that for which the behavioral response has a maximum.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2008

The problem of analytical calculation of barrier crossing characteristics for Levy flights

By using the backward fractional Fokker-Planck equation we investigate the barrier crossing event in the presence of Levy noise. After shortly review recent results obtained with different approaches on the time characteristics of the barrier crossing, we derive a general differential equation useful to calculate the nonlinear relaxation time. We obtain analytically the nonlinear relaxation time for free Levy flights and a closed expression in quadrature of the same characteristics for cubic potential.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Influence of length on the noise delayed switching of long Josephson junctions

The transient dynamics of long overlap Josephson junctions in the frame of the sine-Gordon model with a white noise source is investigated. The effect of noise delayed decay is observed for the case of overdamped sine-Gordon equation. It is shown that this noise induced effect, in the range of small noise intensities, vanishes for junctions lengths greater than several Josephson penetration length.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Noise driven translocation of short polymers in crowded solutions

In this work we study the noise induced effects on the dynamics of short polymers crossing a potential barrier, in the presence of a metastable state. An improved version of the Rouse model for a flexible polymer has been adopted to mimic the molecular dynamics by taking into account both the interactions between adjacent monomers and introducing a Lennard-Jones potential between all beads. A bending recoil torque has also been included in our model. The polymer dynamics is simulated in a two-dimensional domain by numerically solving the Langevin equations of motion with a Gaussian uncorrelated noise. We find a nonmonotonic behaviour of the mean first passage time and the most probable translocation time, of the polymer centre of inertia, as a function of the polymer length at low noise intensity. We show how thermal fluctuations influence the motion of short polymers, by inducing two different regimes of translocation in the molecule transport dynamics. In this context, the role played by the length of the molecule in the translocation time is investigated.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Noise influence on electron dynamics in semiconductors driven by a periodic electric field

Studies about the constructive aspects of noise and fluctuations in different non-linear systems have shown that the addition of external noise to systems with an intrinsic noise may result in a less noisy response. Recently, the possibility to reduce the diffusion noise in semiconductor bulk materials by adding a random fluctuating contribution to the driving static electric field has been tested. The present work extends the previous theories by considering the noise-induced effects on the electron transport dynamics in low-doped n-type GaAs samples driven by a high-frequency periodic electric field (cyclostationary conditions). By means of Monte Carlo simulations, we calculate the changes in the spectral density of the electron velocity fluctuations caused by the addition of an external correlated noise source. The results reported in this paper confirm that, under specific conditions, the presence of a fluctuating component added to an oscillating electric field can reduce the total noise power. Furthermore, we find a nonlinear behaviour of the spectral density with the noise intensity. Our study reveals that, critically depending on the external noise correlation time, the dynamical response of electrons driven by a periodic electric field receives a benefit by the constructive interplay between the fluctuating field and the intrinsic noise of the system.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Noise effects in polymer dynamics

The study of the noise induced effects on the dynamics of a chain molecule crossing a potential barrier, in the presence of a metastable state, is presented. A two-dimensional stochastic version of the Rouse model for a flexible polymer has been adopted to mimic the molecular dynamics and to take into account the interactions between adjacent monomers. We obtain a nonmonotonic behavior of the mean first passage time and its standard deviation, of the polymer centre of inertia, with the noise intensity. These findings reveal a noise induced effect on the mean crossing time. The role of the polymer length is also investigated.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Dynamics of a FitzHugh-Nagumo system subjected to autocorrelated noise

We analyze the dynamics of the FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) model in the presence of colored noise and a periodic signal. Two cases are considered: (i) the dynamics of the membrane potential is affected by the noise, (ii) the slow dynamics of the recovery variable is subject to noise. We investigate the role of the colored noise on the neuron dynamics by the mean response time (MRT) of the neuron. We find meaningful modifications of the resonant activation (RA) and noise enhanced stability (NES) phenomena due to the correlation time of the noise. For strongly correlated noise we observe suppression of NES effect and persistence of RA phenomenon, with an efficiency enhancement of the neuronal response. Finally we show that the self-correlation of the colored noise causes a reduction of the effective noise intensity, which appears as a rescaling of the fluctuations affecting the FHN system.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2008

Verhulst model with Levy white noise excitation

The transient dynamics of the Verhulst model perturbed by arbitrary non-Gaussian white noise is investigated. Based on the infinitely divisible distribution of the Levy process we study the nonlinear relaxation of the population density for three cases of white non-Gaussian noise: (i) shot noise, (ii) noise with a probability density of increments expressed in terms of Gamma function, and (iii) Cauchy stable noise. We obtain exact results for the probability distribution of the population density in all cases, and for Cauchy stable noise the exact expression of the nonlinear relaxation time is derived. Moreover starting from an initial delta function distribution, we find a transition induced by the multiplicative Levy noise, from a trimodal probability distribution to a bimodal probability distribution in asymptotics. Finally we find a nonmonotonic behavior of the nonlinear relaxation time as a function of the Cauchy stable noise intensity.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗