arXiv subjects

Marco Pretti

Publications and source records attributed to Marco Pretti.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Totally asymmetric simple exclusion process with local resetting and open boundary conditions

We study a totally asymmetric simple exclusion process with open boundary conditions and local resetting at the injection node. We investigate the stationary state of the model, using both mean-field approximation and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, and identify three regimes, depending on the way the resetting rate scales with the lattice size. The most interesting regime is the intermediate resetting one, as in the case of periodic boundary conditions. In this regime we find pure phases and phase separation phenomena, including a low-density/high-density phase separation, which was not possible with periodic boundary conditions. We discuss density profiles, characterizing bulk regions and boundary layers, and nearest-neighbour covariances, finding a remarkable agreement between mean-field and simulation results. The stationary state phase diagram is mapped out analytically at the mean-field level, but we conjecture that it may be exact in the thermodynamic limit. We also briefly discuss the large resetting regime, which exhibits an inverse characteristic length scale diverging logarithmically with the lattice size.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Interaction vs inhomogeneity in a periodic TASEP

We study the non-equilibrium steady states in a totally-asymmetric simple-exclusion process with periodic boundary conditions, also incorporating (i) an extra (nearest-neighbour) repulsive interaction and (ii) hopping rates characterized by a smooth spatial inhomogeneity. We make use of a generalized mean-field approach (at the level of nearest-neighbour pair clusters), in combination with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. It turns out that the so-called shock phase can exhibit a lot of qualitatively different subphases, including multiple-shock phases, and a minimal-current shock phase. We argue that the resulting, considerably rich phase diagram should be relatively insensitive to minor details of either interaction or spatial inhomogeneity. As a consequence, we also expect that our results help elucidate the nature of shock subphases detected in previous studies.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2018

Dynamical transition in the TASEP with Langmuir kinetics: mean-field theory

We develop a mean-field theory for the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP) with open boundaries, in order to investigate the so-called dynamical transition. The latter phenomenon appears as a singularity in the relaxation rate of the system toward its non-equilibrium steady state. In the high-density (low-density) phase, the relaxation rate becomes independent of the injection (extraction) rate, at a certain critical value of the parameter itself, and this transition is not accompanied by any qualitative change in the steady-state behavior. We characterize the relaxation rate by providing rigorous bounds, which become tight in the thermodynamic limit. These results are generalized to the TASEP with Langmuir kinetics, where particles can also bind to empty sites or unbind from occupied ones, in the symmetric case of equal binding/unbinding rates. The theory predicts a dynamical transition to occur in this case as well.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Cluster approximations for the TASEP: stationary state and dynamical transition

We develop and test cluster approximations, which generalize simple mean--field by taking into account more and more local correlations, for the Totally Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process with open boundaries. We consider in detail the pair and triplet approximations, discussing the improvements with respect to mean field in various steady state properties. Moreover, we analyze the recently discovered dynamical transition, describing how the spectrum of the relaxation matrix changes at the transition.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Variational approximations for stochastic dynamics on graphs

We investigate different mean-field-like approximations for stochastic dynamics on graphs, within the framework of a cluster-variational approach. In analogy with its equilibrium counterpart, this approach allows one to give a unified view of various (previously known) approximation schemes, and suggests quite a systematic way to improve the level of accuracy. We compare the different approximations with Monte Carlo simulations on a reversible (susceptible-infected-susceptible) discrete-time epidemic-spreading model on random graphs.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2014

Lowering the error floor of Gallager codes: a statistical-mechanical view

The problem of error correction for Gallager's low-density parity-check codes is famously equivalent to that of computing marginal Boltzmann probabilities for an Ising-like model with multispin interactions in a non-uniform magnetic field. Since the graph of interactions is locally a tree, the solution is very well approximated by a generalized mean-field (Bethe-Peierls) approximation. Belief propagation (BP) and similar iterative algorithms are an efficient way to perform the calculation, but they sometimes fail to converge, or converge to non-codewords, giving rise to a non-negligible residual error probability (error floor). On the other hand, provably-convergent algorithms are far too complex to be implemented in a real decoder. In this work we consider the application of the probability-damping technique, which can be regarded either as a variant of BP, from which it retains the property of low complexity, or as an approximation of a provably-convergent algorithm, from which it is expected to inherit better convergence properties. We investigate the algorithm behaviour on a real instance of Gallager code, and compare the results with state-of-the-art algorithms.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2011

Palette-colouring: a belief-propagation approach

We consider a variation of the prototype combinatorial-optimisation problem known as graph-colouring. Our optimisation goal is to colour the vertices of a graph with a fixed number of colours, in a way to maximise the number of different colours present in the set of nearest neighbours of each given vertex. This problem, which we pictorially call "palette-colouring", has been recently addressed as a basic example of problem arising in the context of distributed data storage. Even though it has not been proved to be NP complete, random search algorithms find the problem hard to solve. Heuristics based on a naive belief propagation algorithm are observed to work quite well in certain conditions. In this paper, we build upon the mentioned result, working out the correct belief propagation algorithm, which needs to take into account the many-body nature of the constraints present in this problem. This method improves the naive belief propagation approach, at the cost of increased computational effort. We also investigate the emergence of a satisfiable to unsatisfiable "phase transition" as a function of the vertex mean degree, for different ensembles of sparse random graphs in the large size ("thermodynamic") limit.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

A discrete model of water with two distinct glassy phases

We investigate a minimal model for non-crystalline water, defined on a Husimi lattice. The peculiar random-regular nature of the lattice is meant to account for the formation of a random 4-coordinated hydrogen-bond network. The model turns out to be consistent with most thermodynamic anomalies observed in liquid and supercooled-liquid water. Furthermore, the model exhibits two glassy phases with different densities, which can coexist at a first-order transition. The onset of a complex free-energy landscape, characterized by an exponentially large number of metastable minima, is pointed out by the cavity method, at the level of 1-step replica symmetry breaking.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2006

Inverse swelling of a hydrophobic polymer in aqueous solution

We address the problem of inverse polymer swelling. This phenomenon, in which a collapsed polymer chain swells upon decreasing temperature, can be observed experimentally in so-called thermoreversible homopolymers in aqueous solution, and is believed to be related to the role of hydrophobicity in protein folding. We consider a lattice-fluid model of water, defined on a body-centered cubic lattice, which has been previously shown to account for most thermodynamic anomalies of water and of hydrophobic solvation for monomeric solutes. We represent the polymer as a self-avoiding walk on the same lattice, and investigate the resulting model at a first order approximation level, equivalent to the exact calculation on a Husimi lattice. Depending on interaction parameters and applied pressure, the model exhibits first and/or second order swelling transitions upon decreasing temperature.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2006

Sudden emergence of q-regular subgraphs in random graphs

We investigate the computationally hard problem whether a random graph of finite average vertex degree has an extensively large $q$-regular subgraph, i.e., a subgraph with all vertices having degree equal to $q$. We reformulate this problem as a constraint-satisfaction problem, and solve it using the cavity method of statistical physics at zero temperature. For $q=3$, we find that the first large $q$-regular subgraphs appear discontinuously at an average vertex degree $c_\reg{3} \simeq 3.3546$ and contain immediately about 24% of all vertices in the graph. This transition is extremely close to (but different from) the well-known 3-core percolation point $c_\cor{3} \simeq 3.3509$. For $q>3$, the $q$-regular subgraph percolation threshold is found to coincide with that of the $q$-core.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2004

On the convergence of Kikuchi's natural iteration method

In this article we investigate on the convergence of the natural iteration method, a numerical procedure widely employed in the statistical mechanics of lattice systems to minimize Kikuchi's cluster variational free energies. We discuss a sufficient condition for the convergence, based on the coefficients of the cluster entropy expansion, depending on the lattice geometry. We also show that such a condition is satisfied for many lattices usually studied in applications. Finally, we consider a recently proposed general method for the minimization of non convex functionals, showing that the natural iteration method turns out as a particular case of that method.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2002

A note on cactus trees: variational vs. recursive approach

In this paper we consider the variational approach to cactus trees (Husimi trees) and the more common recursive approach, that are in principle equivalent for finite systems. We discuss in detail the conditions under which the two methods are equivalent also in the analysis of infinite (self-similar) cactus trees, usually investigated to the purpose of approximating ordinary lattice systems. Such issue is hardly ever stated in the literature. We show (on significant test models) that the thermodynamic quantities computed by the variational method, when they deviates from the exact bulk properties of the cactus system, generally provide a better approximation to the behavior of a corresponding ordinary system. Generalizing a property proved by Kikuchi, we also show that the numerical algorithm usually employed to perform the free energy minimization in the variational approach is always convergent.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv1999

Properties of some mean-field like approximations for the triangular Ising antiferromagnet

Motivated by a recent proposal of a Bethe approximation for the triangular Ising antiferromagnet [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 56}, 8241 (1997)], which seems to predict a disordered phase at any temperature in zero field, we analyze in some detail several mean-field like approximations for this model, namely the Bethe approximation itself, the cluster variation method and the hard-spin mean-field theory. We show: (i) that the disordered phase predicted by the Bethe approximation is unphysical at low enough temperature because of a negative entropy; (ii) how the results of the cluster variation method (namely, zero temperature entropy and critical temperature of the spurious transition) converge to the exact ones for increasing cluster size; (iii) that it is possible to construct a cluster variation approximation which yields a disordered phase which is stable down to zero temperature; (iv) a few, so far unknown, zero temperature results (entropy and internal energy) of the hard-spin mean-field theory.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗