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Christian Cherubini

Publications and source records attributed to Christian Cherubini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The Remodeling of Fiber Distributions in Biological Tissues: Rotation without Rotation

Collagen remodeling in living tissues exhibits anisotropic orientation patterns commonly described by Von Mises distributions, yet the physical origin of such nonequilibrium organization remains unresolved. In the present work, we demonstrate analytically that the combined action of Malthusian growth dynamics and the introduction of linear relations governing mechanical remodeling naturally gives rise to generalized bimodal Von Mises distributions as emergent states of living matter. The theory reveals a {\it rotation without rotation} mechanism, in which fibers progressively reorient in the absence of angular mechanical coupling via selective deposition and removal along preferred directions. The resulting analytical solutions quantitatively reproduce experimentally observed distributions and establish a direct mechanobiological origin for directional statistics in biological tissues. By interpreting the evolving normalized fiber density as a probability distribution function, we formulate a dynamical Shannon entropy framework that captures the temporal emergence of microstructural organization. The theory further yields closed-form expressions for the drift of the associated Fokker--Planck equation, enabling the corresponding stochastic differential equation to be derived, thus revealing that tissue remodeling is the collective outcome of noisy single-fiber dynamics. These results establish a minimal theoretical framework that connects biomechanics, stochastic processes, and nonequilibrium statistical organization in living matter.

cond-mat.soft

Impact of Electric Spatially Discordant Alternans on Cardiac Magnetic Field

Spatially discordant alternans (SDA) play a crucial role in cardiac arrhythmogenesis by creating steep repolarization gradients facilitating conduction block and reentry. While traditionally studied using electrical indicators, this work provides a novel perspective by characterizing SDA through their magnetic field signatures. Using a one-dimensional cardiac fiber model, we demonstrate that magnetic field measurements effectively detect SDA and temperature dependent changes in cardiac action potentials, offering a non-invasive alternative to conventional electrophysiological metrics. Our results reveal that the spatial organization of SDA is mirrored in the magnetic field distribution, with SDA nodes clearly identifiable via spatial mapping. Notably, magnetic restitution curves exhibit a distinct pattern from APD-based indicators, closely following the dynamics of the action potential upstroke. These findings establish the cardiac magnetic field as a powerful diagnostic tool for detecting SDA, opening new avenues for biomagnetic monitoring of arrhythmic risk.

physics.med-ph

Magnetic Signature of Thermo-Electric Cardiac Dynamics

Developing new methods for predicting electromagnetic instabilities in cardiac activity is of primary importance. However, we still need a comprehensive view of the heart's magnetic activity at the tissue scale. To fill this gap, we present a model of soft active matter, including thermo-electric coupling, suitably modified to reproduce cardiac magnetic field. Our theoretical framework shows that periodic stimulations of cardiac cells create an external magnetic field evidencing restitution features of nonlinear cardiac dynamics and magnetic restitution curves better discriminate instabilities and bifurcations in cardiac activity. This new framework lays the foundation for innovative, non-invasive diagnostic tools for cardiac arrhythmias.

physics.med-ph

Modelling thermo-electro-mechanical effects in orthotropic cardiac tissue

In this paper we introduce a new mathematical model for the active contraction of cardiac muscle, featuring different thermo-electric and nonlinear conductivity properties. The passive hyperelastic response of the tissue is described by an orthotropic exponential model, whereas the ionic activity dictates active contraction incorporated through the concept of orthotropic active strain. We use a fully incompressible formulation, and the generated strain modifies directly the conductivity mechanisms in the medium through the pull-back transformation. We also investigate the influence of thermo-electric effects in the onset of multiphysics emergent spatiotemporal dynamics, using nonlinear diffusion. It turns out that these ingredients have a key role in reproducing pathological chaotic dynamics such as ventricular fibrillation during inflammatory events, for instance. The specific structure of the governing equations suggests to cast the problem in mixed-primal form and we write it in terms of Kirchhoff stress, displacements, solid pressure, electric potential, activation generation, and ionic variables. We also propose a new mixed-primal finite element method for its numerical approximation, and we use it to explore the properties of the model and to assess the importance of coupling terms, by means of a few computational experiments in 3D.

q-bio.TO

Spatiotemporal correlation uncovers fractional scaling in cardiac tissue

Complex spatiotemporal patterns of action potential duration have been shown to occur in many mammalian hearts due to a period-doubling bifurcation that develops with increasing frequency of stimulation. Here, through high-resolution optical mapping and numerical simulations, we quantify voltage length scales in canine ventricles via spatiotemporal correlation analysis as a function of stimulation frequency and during fibrillation. We show that i) length scales can vary from 40 to 20 cm during one to one responses, ii) a critical decay length for the onset of the period-doubling bifurcation is present and decreases to less than 3 cm before the transition to fibrillation occurs, iii) fibrillation is characterized by a decay length of about 1 cm. On this evidence, we provide a novel theoretical description of cardiac decay lengths introducing an experimental-based conduction velocity dispersion relation that fits the measured wavelengths with a fractional diffusion exponent of 1.5. We show that an accurate phenomenological mathematical model of the cardiac action potential, fine-tuned upon classical restitution protocols, can provide the correct decay lengths during periodic stimulations but that a domain size scaling via the fractional diffusion exponent of 1.5 is necessary to reproduce experimental fibrillation dynamics. Our study supports the need of generalized reaction-diffusion approaches in characterizing the multiscale features of action potential propagation in cardiac tissue. We propose such an approach as the underlying common basis of synchronization in excitable biological media.

physics.bio-ph

On the last stable orbit around rapidly rotating neutron stars

We compute the binding energy and angular momentum of a test-particle at the last stable circular orbit (LSO) on the equatorial plane around a general relativistic, rotating neutron star (NS). We present simple, analytic, but accurate formulas for these quantities that fit the numerical results and which can be used in several astrophysical applications. We demonstrate the accuracy of these formulas for three different equations of state (EOS) based on nuclear relativistic mean-field theory models and argue that they should remain still valid for any NS EOS that satisfy current astrophysical constraints. We compare and contrast our numerical results with the corresponding ones for the Kerr metric characterized by the same mass and angular momentum.

astro-ph.HE

A note on stress-driven anisotropic diffusion and its role in active deformable media

We propose a new model to describe diffusion processes within active deformable media. Our general theoretical framework is based on physical and mathematical considerations, and it suggests to use diffusion tensors directly coupled to mechanical stress. A proof-of-concept experiment and the proposed generalised reaction-diffusion-mechanics model reveal that initially isotropic and homogeneous diffusion tensors turn into inhomogeneous and anisotropic quantities due to the intrinsic structure of the nonlinear coupling. We study the physical properties leading to these effects, and investigate mathematical conditions for its occurrence. Together, the experiment, the model, and the numerical results obtained using a mixed-primal finite element method, clearly support relevant consequences of stress-assisted diffusion into anisotropy patterns, drifting, and conduction velocity of the resulting excitation waves. Our findings also indicate the applicability of this novel approach in the description of mechano-electrical feedback in actively deforming bio-materials such as the heart.

q-bio.TO

Fast Rotating Neutron Stars with Realistic Nuclear Matter Equation of State

We construct equilibrium configurations of uniformly rotating neutron stars for selected relativistic mean-field nuclear matter equations of state (EOS). We compute in particular the gravitational mass ($M$), equatorial ($R_{\rm eq}$) and polar ($R_{\rm pol}$) radii, eccentricity, angular momentum ($J$), moment of inertia ($I$) and quadrupole moment ($M_2$) of neutron stars stable against mass-shedding and secular axisymmetric instability. By constructing the constant frequency sequence $f=716$ Hz of the fastest observed pulsar, PSR J1748-2446ad, and constraining it to be within the stability region, we obtain a lower mass bound for the pulsar, $M_{\rm min}=[1.2$-$1.4] M_\odot$, for the EOS employed. Moreover we give a fitting formula relating the baryonic mass ($M_b$) and gravitational mass of non-rotating neutron stars, $M_b/M_\odot=M/M_\odot+(13/200)(M/M_\odot)^2$ [or $M/M_\odot=M_b/M_\odot-(1/20)(M_b/M_\odot)^2$], which is independent on the EOS. We also obtain a fitting formula, although not EOS independent, relating the gravitational mass and the angular momentum of neutron stars along the secular axisymmetric instability line for each EOS. We compute the maximum value of the dimensionless angular momentum, $a/M\equiv c J/(G M^2)$ (or "Kerr parameter"), $(a/M)_{\rm max}\approx 0.7$, found to be also independent on the EOS. We compare and contrast then the quadrupole moment of rotating neutron stars with the one predicted by the Kerr exterior solution for the same values of mass and angular momentum. Finally we show that, although the mass quadrupole moment of realistic neutron stars never reaches the Kerr value, the latter is closely approached from above at the maximum mass value, as physically expected from the no-hair theorem. In particular the stiffer the EOS is, the closer the Kerr solution is approached.

astro-ph.SR

Physical frames along circular orbits in stationary axisymmetric spacetimes

Three natural classes of orthonormal frames, namely Frenet-Serret, Fermi-Walker and parallel transported frames, exist along any timelike world line in spacetime. Their relationships are investigated for timelike circular orbits in stationary axisymmetric spacetimes, and illustrated for black hole spacetimes.

gr-qc

Massless field perturbations of the spinning C metric

A single master equation is given describing spin $s\le2$ test fields that are gauge- and tetrad-invariant perturbations of the {\it spinning C metric} spacetime representing a source with mass $M$, uniformly rotating with angular momentum per unit mass $a$ and uniformly accelerated with acceleration $A$. This equation can be separated into its radial and angular parts. The behavior of the radial functions near the horizons is studied and used to examine the influence of $A$ on the phenomenon of superradiance, while the angular equation leads to modified spin-weighted spheroidal harmonic solutions generalizing those of the Kerr spacetime. Finally the coupling between the spin of the perturbing field and the acceleration parameter $A$ is discussed.

gr-qc

The effective geometry of the $n=1$ uniformly rotating self-gravitating polytrope

The \lq\lq effective geometry" formalism is used to study the perturbations of a perfect barotropic Newtonian self-gravitating rotating and compressible fluid coupled with gravitational backreaction. The case of a uniformly rotating polytrope with index $n=1$ is investigated, due to its analytical tractability. Special attention is devoted to the geometrical properties of the underlying background acoustic metric, focusing in particular on null geodesics as well as on the analog light cone structure.

gr-qc

Inertial effects in accelerating spacetimes

The motion of test particles along circular orbits in the vacuum $C$ metric is studied in the Frenet-Serret formalism. Special orbits and corresponding intrinsically defined geometrically relevant properties are selectively studied.

gr-qc

C metric: the equatorial plane and Fermi coordinates

We discuss geodesic motion in the vacuum C metric using Bondi-like spherical coordinates, with special attention to the role played by the "equatorial plane." We show that the spatial trajectory of photons on such a hypersurface is formally the same of photons on the equatorial plane of the Schwarzschild spacetime, apart from an energy shift involving the spacetime acceleration parameter. Furthermore, we show that photons starting their motion from this hypersurface with vanishing component of the momentum along $θ$, remain confined on it, differently from the case of massive particles. This effect is shown to have a counterpart also in the massless limit of the C metric, i.e. in Minkowski spacetime. Finally, we give the explict map between Bondi-like spherical coordinates and Fermi coordinates (up to the second order) for the world line of an observer at rest at a fixed spatial point of the equatorial plane of the C metric, a result which may be eventually useful to estimate both the mass and the acceleration parameter of accelerated sources.

gr-qc

On the coherent behavior of pancreatic beta cell clusters

Beta cells in pancreas represent an example of coupled biological oscillators which via communication pathways, are able to synchronize their electrical activity, giving rise to pulsatile insulin release. In this work we numerically analyze scale free self-similarity features of membrane voltage signal power density spectrum, through a stochastic dynamical model for beta cells in the islets of Langerhans fine tuned on mouse experimental data. Adopting the algebraic approach of coherent state formalism, we show how coherent molecular domains can arise from proper functional conditions leading to a parallelism with "phase transition" phenomena of field theory.

cond-mat.soft

Wave-train induced unpinning of weakly anchored vortices in excitable media

A free vortex in excitable media can be displaced and removed by a wave-train. However, simple physical arguments suggest that vortices anchored to large inexcitable obstacles cannot be removed similarly. We show that unpinning of vortices attached to obstacles smaller than the core radius of the free vortex is possible through pacing. The wave-train frequency necessary for unpinning increases with the obstacle size and we present a geometric explanation of this dependence. Our model-independent results suggest that decreasing excitability of the medium can facilitate pacing-induced removal of vortices in cardiac tissue.

physics.bio-ph

Dixon's extended bodies and weak gravitational waves

General relativity considers Dixon's theory as the standard theory to deal with the motion of extended bodies in a given gravitational background. We discuss here the features of the "reaction" of an extended body to the passage of a weak gravitational wave. We find that the body acquires a dipolar moment induced by its quadrupole structure. Furthermore, we derive the "world function" for the weak field limit of a gravitational wave background and use it to estimate the deviation between geodesics and the world lines of structured bodies. Measuring such deviations, due to the existence of cumulative effects, should be favorite with respect to measuring the amplitude of the gravitational wave itself.

gr-qc

Extended bodies with quadrupole moment interacting with gravitational monopoles: reciprocity relations

An exact solution of Einstein's equations representing the static gravitational field of a quasi-spherical source endowed with both mass and mass quadrupole moment is considered. It belongs to the Weyl class of solutions and reduces to the Schwarzschild solution when the quadrupole moment vanishes. The geometric properties of timelike circular orbits (including geodesics) in this spacetime are investigated. Moreover, a comparison between geodesic motion in the spacetime of a quasi-spherical source and non-geodesic motion of an extended body also endowed with both mass and mass quadrupole moment as described by Dixon's model in the gravitational field of a Schwarzschild black hole is discussed. Certain "reciprocity relations" between the source and the particle parameters are obtained, providing a further argument in favor of the acceptability of Dixon's model for extended bodies in general relativity.

gr-qc

Electrocardiogram of the Mixmaster Universe

The Mixmaster dynamics is revisited in a new light as revealing a series of transitions in the complex scale invariant scalar invariant of the Weyl curvature tensor best represented by the speciality index $\mathcal{S}$, which gives a 4-dimensional measure of the evolution of the spacetime independent of all the 3-dimensional gauge-dependent variables except for the time used to parametrize it. Its graph versus time characterized by correlated isolated pulses in its real and imaginary parts corresponding to curvature wall collisions serves as a sort of electrocardiogram of the Mixmaster universe, with each such pulse pair arising from a single circuit or ``complex pulse'' around the origin in the complex plane. These pulses in the speciality index and their limiting points on the real axis seem to invariantly characterize some of the so called spike solutions in inhomogeneous cosmology and should play an important role as a gauge invariant lens through which to view current investigations of inhomogeneous Mixmaster dynamics.

gr-qc