arXiv subjects

M. Di Ventra

Publications and source records attributed to M. Di Ventra.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Memory-induced long-range order in dynamical systems

Time non-locality, or memory, is a non-equilibrium property shared by all physical systems. Here, we show that memory is sufficient to induce a phase of spatial long-range order (LRO) even if the system's primary dynamical variables are coupled locally. This occurs when the memory degrees of freedom have slower dynamics than the primary degrees of freedom. In addition, such an LRO phase is non-perturbative, and can be understood through the lens of a correlated percolation transition of the fast degrees of freedom mediated by memory. When the two degrees of freedom have comparable time scales, the length of the effective long-range interaction shortens. We exemplify this behavior with a model of locally coupled spins and a single dynamic memory variable, but our analysis is sufficiently general to suggest that memory could induce a phase of LRO in a much wider variety of physical systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

The Fourier signatures of memristive hysteresis

While resistors with memory, sometimes called memristive elements (such as ReRAM cells), are often studied under conditions of periodic driving, little attention has been paid to the Fourier features of their memory response (hysteresis). Here we demonstrate experimentally that the hysteresis of memristive systems can be unambiguously distinguished from the linear or non-linear response of systems without hysteresis by the values of certain Fourier series coefficients. We also show that the Fourier series convergence depends on driving conditions, and introduce a measure of hysteresis. These results may be used to quantify the memory content of resistive memories, and tune their Fourier spectrum according to the excitation signal.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2021

An experimental demonstration of the memristor test

A simple and unambiguous test has been recently suggested [J. Phys. D: Applied Physics, 52, 01LT01 (2018)] to check experimentally if a resistor with memory is indeed a memristor, namely a resistor whose resistance depends only on the charge that flows through it, or on the history of the voltage across it. However, although such a test would represent the litmus test for claims about memristors (in the ideal sense), it has yet to be applied widely to actual physical devices. In this paper, we experimentally apply it to a current-carrying wire interacting with a magnetic core, which was recently claimed to be a memristor (so-called `$Φ$ memristor') [J. Appl. Phys. 125, 054504 (2019)]. The results of our experiment demonstrate unambiguously that this `$Φ$ memristor' is not a memristor: it is simply an inductor with memory. This demonstration casts further doubts that ideal memristors do actually exist in nature or may be easily created in the lab.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Comment on "$Φ$ memristor: Real memristor found" by F. Z. Wang, L. Li, L. Shi, H. Wu, and L. O. Chua [J. Appl. Phys. 125, 054504 (2019)]

Wang et al. claim [J. Appl. Phys. 125, 054504 (2019)] that a current-carrying wire interacting with a magnetic core represents a memristor. Here, we demonstrate that this claim is false. We first show that such memristor "discovery" is based on incorrect physics, which does not even capture basic properties of magnetic core materials, such as their magnetic hysteresis. Moreover, the predictions of Wang et al.'s model contradict the experimental curves presented in their paper. Additionally, the theoretical pinched hysteresis loops presented by Wang et al. can not be reproduced if their model is used, and there are serious flaws in their "negative memristor" emulator design. Finally, a simple gedanken experiment shows that the proposed $Φ$-memristor would fail the memristor test we recently suggested in J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 52, 01LT01 (2019). The device "discovered" by Wang et al. is just an inductor with memory.

cs.ET↗

arXiv2020

Efficient Solution of Boolean Satisfiability Problems with Digital MemComputing

Boolean satisfiability is a propositional logic problem of interest in multiple fields, e.g., physics, mathematics, and computer science. Beyond a field of research, instances of the SAT problem, as it is known, require efficient solution methods in a variety of applications. It is the decision problem of determining whether a Boolean formula has a satisfying assignment, believed to require exponentially growing time for an algorithm to solve for the worst-case instances. Yet, the efficient solution of many classes of Boolean formulae eludes even the most successful algorithms, not only for the worst-case scenarios, but also for typical-case instances. Here, we introduce a memory-assisted physical system (a digital memcomputing machine) that, when its non-linear ordinary differential equations are integrated numerically, shows evidence for polynomially-bounded scalability while solving "hard" planted-solution instances of SAT, known to require exponential time to solve in the typical case for both complete and incomplete algorithms. Furthermore, we analytically demonstrate that the physical system can efficiently solve the SAT problem in continuous time, without the need to introduce chaos or an exponentially growing energy. The efficiency of the simulations is related to the collective dynamical properties of the original physical system that persist in the numerical integration to robustly guide the solution search even in the presence of numerical errors. We anticipate our results to broaden research directions in physics-inspired computing paradigms ranging from theory to application, from simulation to hardware implementation.

cs.ET↗

arXiv2020

An experimental proof that resistance-switching memories are not memristors

It has been suggested that all resistive-switching memory cells are memristors. The latter are hypothetical, ideal devices whose resistance, as originally formulated, depends only on the net charge that traverses them. Recently, an unambiguous test has been proposed [J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. {\bf 52}, 01LT01 (2019)] to determine whether a given physical system is indeed a memristor or not. Here, we experimentally apply such a test to both in-house fabricated Cu-SiO2 and commercially available electrochemical metallization cells. Our results unambiguously show that electrochemical metallization memory cells are not memristors. Since the particular resistance-switching memories employed in our study share similar features with many other memory cells, our findings refute the claim that all resistance-switching memories are memristors. They also cast doubts on the existence of ideal memristors as actual physical devices that can be fabricated experimentally. Our results then lead us to formulate two memristor impossibility conjectures regarding the impossibility of building a model of physical resistance-switching memories based on the memristor model.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Comment on "If it's pinched it's a memristor" by L. Chua [Semicond. Sci. Technol. 29, 104001 (2014)]

In his paper "If it's pinched it's a memristor" [Semicond. Sci. Technol. 29, 104001 (2014)] L. Chua claims to extend the notion of memristor to all two-terminal resistive devices that show a hysteresis loop pinched at the origin. He also states that memcapacitors and meminductors can be defined by a trivial replacement of symbols in the memristor relations, and, therefore, there should be a correspondence between the hysteresis curves of different types of memory elements. This leads the author to the erroneous conclusion that charge-voltage curves of any memcapacitive devices should be pinched at the origin. The purpose of this Comment is to correct the wrong statements in Chua's paper, as well as to highlight some other inconsistencies in his reasoning. We also provide experimental evidence of a memcapacitive device showing non-pinched hysteresis.

cs.ET↗

arXiv2019

Solid-state memcapacitive system with negative and diverging capacitance

We suggest a possible realization of a solid-state memory capacitive (memcapacitive) system. Our approach relies on the slow polarization rate of a medium between plates of a regular capacitor. To achieve this goal, we consider a multi-layer structure embedded in a capacitor. The multi-layer structure is formed by metallic layers separated by an insulator so that non-linear electronic transport (tunneling) between the layers can occur. The suggested memcapacitor shows hysteretic charge-voltage and capacitance-voltage curves, and both negative and diverging capacitance within certain ranges of the field. This proposal can be easily realized experimentally, and indicates the possibility of information storage in memcapacitive devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

On the validity of memristor modeling in the neural network literature

An analysis of the literature shows that there are two types of non-memristive models that have been widely used in the modeling of so-called "memristive" neural networks. Here, we demonstrate that such models have nothing in common with the concept of memristive elements: they describe either non-linear resistors or certain bi-state systems, which all are devices without memory. Therefore, the results presented in a significant number of publications are at least questionable, if not completely irrelevant to the actual field of memristive neural networks.

cs.NE↗

arXiv2018

A simple test for ideal memristors

An ideal memristor is defined as a resistor with memory that, when subject to a time-dependent current, $I(t)$, its resistance $R_M(q)$ depends {\it only} on the charge $q$ that has flowed through it, so that its voltage response is $V(t)=R_M(q)I(t)$. It has been argued that a clear fingerprint of these ideal memristors is a pinched hysteresis loop in their I-V curves. However, a pinched I-V hysteresis loop is not a definitive test of whether a resistor with memory is truly an ideal memristor because such a property is shared also by other resistors whose memory depends on additional internal state variables, other than the charge. Here, we introduce a very simple and {\it unambiguous} test that can be utilized to check experimentally if a resistor with memory is indeed an ideal memristor. Our test is based on the duality property of a capacitor-memristor circuit whereby, for any initial resistance states of the memristor and any form of the applied voltage, the final state of an ideal memristor must be identical to its initial state, if the capacitor charge finally returns to its initial value. In actual experiments, a sufficiently wide range of voltage amplitudes and initial states are enough to perform the test. The proposed test can help resolve some long-standing controversies still existing in the literature about whether an ideal memristor does actually exist or it is a purely mathematical concept.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Quantum Memristors with Superconducting Circuits

Memristors are resistive elements retaining information of their past dynamics. They have garnered substantial interest due to their potential for representing a paradigm change in electronics, information processing and unconventional computing. Given the advent of quantum technologies, a design for a quantum memristor with superconducting circuits may be envisaged. Along these lines, we introduce such a quantum device whose memristive behavior arises from quasiparticle-induced tunneling when supercurrents are cancelled. For realistic parameters, we find that the relevant hysteretic behavior may be observed using current state-of-the-art measurements of the phase-driven tunneling current. Finally, we develop suitable methods to quantify memory retention in the system.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Quantum Memristors

Technology based on memristors, resistors with memory whose resistance depends on the history of the crossing charges, has lately enhanced the classical paradigm of computation with neuromorphic architectures. However, in contrast to the known quantized models of passive circuit elements, such as inductors, capacitors or resistors, the design and realization of a quantum memristor is still missing. Here, we introduce the concept of a quantum memristor as a quantum dissipative device, whose decoherence mechanism is controlled by a continuous-measurement feedback scheme, which accounts for the memory. Indeed, we provide numerical simulations showing that memory effects actually persist in the quantum regime. Our quantization method, specifically designed for superconducting circuits, may be extended to other quantum platforms, allowing for memristor-type constructions in different quantum technologies. The proposed quantum memristor is then a building block for neuromorphic quantum computation and quantum simulations of non-Markovian systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Functional theories of thermoelectric phenomena

We review the progress that has been recently made in the application of time-dependent density functional theory to thermoelectric phenomena. As the field is very young, we emphasize open problems and fundamental issues. We begin by introducing the formal structure of \emph{thermal density functional theory}, a density functional theory with two basic variables -- the density and the energy density -- and two conjugate fields -- the ordinary scalar potential and Luttinger's thermomechanical potential. The static version of this theory is contrasted with the familiar finite-temperature density functional theory, in which only the density is a variable. We then proceed to constructing the full time-dependent non equilibrium theory, including the practically important Kohn-Sham equations that go with it. The theory is shown to recover standard results of the Landauer theory for thermal transport in the steady state, while showing greater flexibility by allowing a description of fast thermal response, temperature oscillations and related phenomena. Several results are presented here for the first time, i.e., the proof of invertibility of the thermal response function in the linear regime, the full expression of the thermal currents in the presence of Luttinger's thermomechanical potential, an explicit prescription for the evaluation of the Kohn-Sham potentials in the adiabatic local density approximation, a detailed discussion of the leading dissipative corrections to the adiabatic local density approximation and the thermal corrections to the resistivity that follow from it.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Temperature-driven transient charge and heat currents in nanoscale conductors

We analyze the short-time behavior of the heat and charge currents through nanoscale conductors exposed to a temperature gradient. To this end, we employ Luttinger's thermomechanical potential to simulate a sudden change of temperature at one end of the conductor. We find that the direction of the charge current through an impurity is initially opposite to the direction of the charge current in the steady-state limit. Furthermore, we investigate the transient propagation of energy and particle density driven by a temperature variation through a conducting nanowire. Interestingly, we find that the velocity of the wavefronts of, both, the particle and the energy wave have the same constant value, insensitive to changes in the average electronic density. In the steady-state regime, we find that, at low temperatures, the local temperature and potential, as measured by a floating probe lead, exhibit characteristic oscillations due to quantum interference, with a periodicity that corresponds to half the Fermi wavelength of the electrons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Reconfigurable Transmission Lines with Memcapacitive Materials

We study transmission lines made of memory capacitive (memcapacitive) materials. The transmission properties of these lines can be adjusted on demand using an appropriate sequence of pulses. In particular, we demonstrate a pulse combination that creates a periodic modulation of dielectric properties along the line. Such a structure resembles a distributed Bragg reflector having important optical applications. We present simulation results demonstrating all major steps of such a reconfigurable device operation including reset, programming and transmission of small amplitude signals. The proposed reconfigurable transmission lines employ only passive memory materials and can be realized using available memcapacitive devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Improving sequencing by tunneling with multiplexing and cross-correlations

Sequencing by tunneling is a next-generation approach to read single-base information using electronic tunneling transverse to the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) backbone while the latter is translocated through a narrow channel. The original idea considered a single pair of electrodes to read out the current and distinguish the bases [1, 2]. Here, we propose an improvement to the original sequencing by tunneling method, in which $N$ pairs of electrodes are built in series along a synthetic nanochannel. While the ssDNA is forced through the channel using a longitudinal field it passes by each pair of electrodes for long enough time to gather a minimum of $m$ tunneling current measurements, where $m$ is determined by the level of sequencing error desired. Each current time series for each nucleobase is then cross-correlated together, from which the DNA bases can be distinguished. We show using random sampling of data from classical molecular dynamics, that indeed the sequencing error is significantly reduced as the number of pairs of electrodes, $N$, increases. Compared to the sequencing ability of a single pair of electrodes, cross-correlating $N$ pairs of electrodes is exponentially better due to the approximate log-normal nature of the tunneling current probability distributions. We have also used the Fenton-Wilkinson approximation to analytically describe the mean and variance of the cross-correlations that are used to distinguish the DNA bases. The method we suggest is particularly useful when the measurement bandwidth is limited, allowing a smaller electrode gap residence time while still promising to consistently identify the DNA bases correctly.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2015

Sequencing proteins with transverse ionic transport in nanochannels

{\it De novo} protein sequencing is essential for understanding cellular processes that govern the function of living organisms and all post-translational events and other sequence modifications that occur after a protein has been constructed from its corresponding DNA code. By obtaining the order of the amino acids that composes a given protein one can then determine both its secondary and tertiary structures through structure prediction, which is used to create models for protein aggregation diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease. Mass spectrometry is the current technique of choice for {\it de novo} sequencing. However, because some amino acids have the same mass the sequence cannot be completely determined in many cases. Here, we propose a new technique for {\it de novo} protein sequencing that involves translocating a polypeptide through a synthetic nanochannel and measuring the ionic current of each amino acid through an intersecting {\it perpendicular} nanochannel. To calculate the transverse ionic current blockaded by a given amino acid we use a Monte Carlo method along with Ramachandran plots to determine the available flow area, modified by the local density of ions obtained from molecular dynamics and the local flow velocity ratio derived from the Stokes equation. We find that the distribution of ionic currents for each of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids encoded by eukaryotic genes is statistically distinct, showing this technique's potential for {\it de novo} protein sequencing.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2015

A Memcomputing Pascaline

The original Pascaline was a mechanical calculator able to sum and subtract integers. It encodes information in the angles of mechanical wheels and through a set of gears, and aided by gravity, could perform the calculations. Here, we show that such a concept can be realized in electronics using memory elements such as memristive systems. By using memristive emulators we have demonstrated experimentally the memcomputing version of the mechanical Pascaline, capable of processing and storing the numerical results in the multiple levels of each memristive element. Our result is the first experimental demonstration of multidigit arithmetics with multi-level memory devices that further emphasizes the versatility and potential of memristive systems for future massively-parallel high-density computing architectures.

cs.ET↗