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Barbara Drossel

Publications and source records attributed to Barbara Drossel.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Kauffman networks with threshold functions

We investigate Threshold Random Boolean Networks with $K = 2$ inputs per node, which are equivalent to Kauffman networks, with only part of the canalyzing functions as update functions. According to the simplest consideration these networks should be critical but it turns out that they show a rich variety of behaviors, including periodic and chaotic oscillations. The results are supported by analytical calculations and computer simulations.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

Transient and stationary behavior of the Olami-Feder-Christensen earthquake model

Using long-term computer simulations and mean-field like arguments, we investigate the transient time and the properties of the stationary state of the Olami-Feder-Christensen earthquake model as function of the coupling parameter $α$ and the system size $N$. The most important findings are that the transient time diverges nonanalytically when $α$ approaches zero, and that the avalanche-size distribution will not approach a power law with increasing system size.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Nonequilibrium critical behavior of a species coexistence model

A biologically motivated model for spatio-temporal coexistence of two competing species is studied by mean-field theory and numerical simulations. In d>1 dimensions the phase diagram displays an extended region where both species coexist, bounded by two second-order phase transition lines belonging to the directed percolation universality class. The two transition lines meet in a multicritical point, where a non-trivial critical behavior is observed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Scaling in critical random Boolean networks

We derive mostly analytically the scaling behavior of the number of nonfrozen and relevant nodes in critical Kauffman networks (with two inputs per node) in the thermodynamic limit. By defining and analyzing a stochastic process that determines the frozen core we can prove that the mean number of nonfrozen nodes scales with the network size N as N^{2/3}, with only N^{1/3} nonfrozen nodes having two nonfrozen inputs. We also show the probability distributions for the numbers of these nodes. Using a different stochastic process, we determine the scaling behavior of the number of relevant nodes. Their mean number increases for large N as N^{1/3}, and only a finite number of relevant nodes have two relevant inputs. 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.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

On the number of attractors in random Boolean networks

The evaluation of the number of attractors in Kauffman networks by Samuelsson and Troein is generalized to critical networks with one input per node and to networks with two inputs per node and different probability distributions for update functions. A connection is made between the terms occurring in the calculation and between the more graphic concepts of frozen, nonfrozen and relevant nodes, and relevant components. Based on this understanding, a phenomenological argument is given that reproduces the dependence of the attractor numbers on system size.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Number and length of attractors in a critical Kauffman model with connectivity one

The Kauffman model describes a system of randomly connected nodes with dynamics based on Boolean update functions. Though it is a simple model, it exhibits very complex behavior for "critical" parameter values at the boundary between a frozen and a disordered phase, and is therefore used for studies of real network problems. We prove here that the mean number and mean length of attractors in critical random Boolean networks with connectivity one both increase faster than any power law with network size. We derive these results by generating the networks through a growth process and by calculating lower bounds.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

The dynamics of critical Kauffman networks under asynchronous stochastic update

We show that the mean number of attractors in a critical Boolean network under asynchronous stochastic update grows like a power law and that the mean size of the attractors increases as a stretched exponential with the system size. This is in strong contrast to the synchronous case, where the number of attractors grows faster than any power law.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

The Olami-Feder-Christensen earthquake model in one dimension

We study the earthquake model by Olami, Feder and Christensen in one dimension. While the size distribution of earthquakes resembles a power law for small system sizes, it splits for larger system sizes into two parts, one comprising small avalanches and showing a size independent cutoff, and the other comprising avalanches of the order of the system size. We identify four different types of attractors of the dynamics of the system which already exist for very small systems. For larger system sizes, these attractors contain large synchronized regions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Energy barriers in spin glasses

For an Ising spin glass on a hierarchical lattice, we show that the energy barrier to be overcome during the flip of a domain of size L scales as L to the power d-1 for all dimensions d. We do this by investigating appropriate lower bounds to the barrier energy, which can be evaluated using an algorithm that remains fast for large system sizes and dimensions. The asymptotic limit of infinite dimensions is evaluated analytically.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

The impact of non-linear functional responses on the long-term evolution of food web structure

We investigate the long-term web structure emerging in evolutionary food web models when different types of functional responses are used. We find that large and complex webs with several trophic layers arise only if the population dynamics is such that it allows predators to focus on their best prey species. This can be achieved using modified Lotka-Volterra or Holling/Beddington functional responses with effective couplings that depend on the predator's efficiency at exploiting the prey, or a ratio-dependent functional response with adaptive foraging. In contrast, if standard Lotka-Volterra or Holling/Beddington functional responses are used, long-term evolution generates webs with almost all species being basal, and with additionally many links between these species. Interestingly, in all cases studied, a large proportion of weak links result naturally from the evolution of the food webs.

q-bio.PE↗

Interplay between phase ordering and roughening on growing films

We study the interplay between surface roughening and phase separation during the growth of binary films. Renormalization group calculations are performed on a pair of equations coupling the interface height and order parameter fluctuations. We find a larger roughness exponent at the critical point of the order parameter compared to the disordered phase, and an increase in the upper critical dimension for the surface roughening transition from two to four. Numerical simulations performed on a solid-on-solid model with two types of deposited particles corroborate some of these findings. However, for a range of parameters not accessible to perturbative analysis, we find non-universal behavior with a continuously varying dynamic exponent.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

The complex scaling behavior of non--conserved self--organized critical systems

The Olami--Feder--Christensen earthquake model is often considered the prototype dissipative self--organized critical model. It is shown that the size distribution of events in this model results from a complex interplay of several different phenomena, including limited floating--point precision. Parallels between the dynamics of synchronized regions and those of a system with periodic boundary conditions are pointed out, and the asymptotic avalanche size distribution is conjectured to be dominated by avalanches of size one, with the weight of larger avalanches converging towards zero as the system size increases.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Passive Sliders on Growing Surfaces and (anti-)Advection in Burger's Flows

We study the fluctuations of particles sliding on a stochastically growing surface. This problem can be mapped to motion of passive scalars in a randomly stirred Burger's flow. Renormalization group studies, simulations, and scaling arguments in one dimension, suggest a rich set of phenomena: If particles slide with the avalanche of growth sites (advection with the fluid), they tend to cluster and follow the surface dynamics. However, for particles sliding against the avalanche (anti-advection), we find slower diffusion dynamics, and density fluctuations with no simple relation to the underlying fluid, possibly with continuously varying exponents.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

p-spin model in finite dimensions and its relation to structural glasses

The p-spin spin-glass model has been studied extensively at mean-field level because of the insights which it provides into the mode-coupling approach to structural glasses and the nature of the glass transition. We demonstrate explicitly that the finite dimensional version of the p-spin model is in the same universality class as an Ising spin glass in a magnetic field. Assuming that the droplet picture of Ising spin glasses is valid we discuss how this universality may provide insights into why structural glasses are either "fragile" or "strong".

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

The self-organized critical forest-fire model on large scales

We discuss the scaling behavior of the self-organized critical forest-fire model on large length scales. As indicated in earlier publications, the forest-fire model does not show conventional critical scaling, but has two qualitatively different types of fires that superimpose to give the effective exponents typically measured in simulations. We show that this explains not only why the exponent characterizing the fire-size distribution changes with increasing correlation length, but allows also to predict its asymptotic value. We support our arguments by computer simulations of a coarse-grained model, by scaling arguments and by analyzing states that are created artificially by superimposing the two types of fires.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Finite-size effects in the self-organized critical forest-fire model

We study finite-size effects in the self-organized critical forest-fire model by numerically evaluating the tree density and the fire size distribution. The results show that this model does not display the finite-size scaling seen in conventional critical systems. Rather, the system is composed of relatively homogeneous patches of different tree densities, leading to two qualitatively different types of fires: those that span an entire patch and those that don't. As the system size becomes smaller, the system contains less patches, and finally becomes homogeneous, with large density fluctuations in time.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

The $\pm J $ spin glass in Migdal-Kadanoff approximation

We study the low-temperature phase of the three-dimensional $\pm J$ Ising spin glass in Migdal-Kadanoff approximation. At zero temperature, T=0, the properties of the spin glass result from the ground-state degeneracy and can be elucidated using scaling arguments based on entropy. The approach to the asymptotic scaling regime is very slow, and the correct exponents are only visible beyond system sizes around 64. At T>0, a crossover from the zero-temperature behaviour to the behaviour expected from the droplet picture occurs at length scales proportional to $T^{-d_s/2}$ where $d_s$ is the fractal dimension of a domain wall. Canonical droplet behaviour is not visible at any temperature for systems whose linear dimension is smaller than 16 lattice spacings, because the data are either affected by the zero-temperature behaviour or the critical point behaviour.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Biological Evolution and Statistical Physics

This review is an introduction to theoretical models and mathematical calculations for biological evolution, aimed at physicists. The methods in the field are naturally very similar to those used in statistical physics, although the majority of publications appeared in biology journals. The review has three parts, which can be read independently. The first part deals with evolution in fitness landscapes and includes Fisher's theorem, adaptive walks, quasispecies models, effects of finite population sizes, and neutral evolution. The second part studies models of coevolution, including evolutionary game theory, kin selection, group selection, sexual selection, speciation, and coevolution of hosts and parasites. The third part discusses models for networks of interacting species and their extinction avalanches. Throughout the review, attention is paid to giving the necessary biological information, and to pointing out the assumptions underlying the models, and their limits of validity.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗