arXiv subjects

P. L. Krapivsky

Publications and source records attributed to P. L. Krapivsky.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Kinetics of First Passage in a Cone

We study statistics of first passage inside a cone in arbitrary spatial dimension. The probability that a diffusing particle avoids the cone boundary decays algebraically with time. The decay exponent depends on two variables: the opening angle of the cone and the spatial dimension. In four dimensions, we find an explicit expression for the exponent, and in general, we obtain it as a root of a transcendental equation involving associated Legendre functions. At large dimensions, the decay exponent depends on a single scaling variable, while roots of the parabolic cylinder function specify the scaling function. Consequently, the exponent is of order one only if the cone surface is very close to a plane. We also perform asymptotic analysis for extremely thin and extremely wide cones.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

First-Passage Exponents of Multiple Random Walks

We investigate first-passage statistics of an ensemble of N noninteracting random walks on a line. Starting from a configuration in which all particles are located in the positive half-line, we study S_n(t), the probability that the nth rightmost particle remains in the positive half-line up to time t. This quantity decays algebraically, S_n (t) ~ t^{-beta_n}, in the long-time limit. Interestingly, there is a family of nontrivial first-passage exponents, beta_1 infinity limit, however, the exponents attain a scaling form, beta_n(N)--> beta(z) with z=(n-N/2)/sqrt{N}. We also demonstrate that the smallest exponent decays exponentially with N. We deduce these results from first-passage kinetics of a random walk in an N-dimensional cone and confirm them using numerical simulations. Additionally, we investigate the family of exponents that characterizes leadership statistics of multiple random walks and find that in this case, the cone provides an excellent approximation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Wealth Distributions in Asset Exchange Models

How do individuals accumulate wealth as they interact economically? We outline the consequences of a simple microscopic model in which repeated pairwise exchanges of assets between individuals build the wealth distribution of a population. This distribution is determined for generic exchange rules --- transactions that involve a fixed amount or a fixed fraction of individual wealth, as well as random or greedy exchanges. In greedy multiplicative exchange, a continuously evolving power law wealth distribution arises, a feature that qualitatively mimics empirical observations.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2010

Maximum of N Independent Brownian Walkers till the First Exit From the Half Space

We consider the one-dimensional target search process that involves an immobile target located at the origin and $N$ searchers performing independent Brownian motions starting at the initial positions $\vec x = (x_1,x_2,..., x_N)$ all on the positive half space. The process stops when the target is first found by one of the searchers. We compute the probability distribution of the maximum distance $m$ visited by the searchers till the stopping time and show that it has a power law tail: $P_N(m|\vec x)\sim B_N (x_1x_2... x_N)/m^{N+1}$ for large $m$. Thus all moments of $m$ up to the order $(N-1)$ are finite, while the higher moments diverge. The prefactor $B_N$ increases with $N$ faster than exponentially. Our solution gives the exit probability of a set of $N$ particles from a box $[0,L]$ through the left boundary. Incidentally, it also provides an exact solution of the Laplace's equation in an $N$-dimensional hypercube with some prescribed boundary conditions. The analytical results are in excellent agreement with Monte Carlo simulations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

First Passage Properties of the Polya Urn Process

We study first passage statistics of the Polya urn model. In this random process, the urn contains two types of balls. In each step, one ball is drawn randomly from the urn, and subsequently placed back into the urn together with an additional ball of the same type. We derive the probability G_n that the two types of balls are equal in number, for the first time, when there is a total of 2n balls. This first passage probability decays algebraically, G_n ~ n^{-2}, when n is large. We also derive the probability that a tie ever happens. This probability is between zero and one, so that a tie may occur in some realizations but not in others. The likelihood of a tie is appreciable only if the initial difference in the number balls is of the order of the square-root of the total number of balls.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Random Ancestor Trees

We investigate a network growth model in which the genealogy controls the evolution. In this model, a new node selects a random target node and links either to this target node, or to its parent, or to its grandparent, etc; all nodes from the target node to its most ancient ancestor are equiprobable destinations. The emerging random ancestor tree is very shallow: the fraction g_n of nodes at distance n from the root decreases super-exponentially with n, g_n=e^{-1}/(n-1)!. We find that a macroscopic hub at the root coexists with highly connected nodes at higher generations. The maximal degree of a node at the nth generation grows algebraically as N^{1/beta_n} where N is the system size. We obtain the series of nontrivial exponents which are roots of transcendental equations: beta_1= 1.351746, beta_2=1.682201, etc. As a consequence, the fraction p_k of nodes with degree k has algebraic tail, p_k ~ k^{-gamma}, with gamma=beta_1+1=2.351746.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Signatures of arithmetic simplicity in metabolic network architecture

Metabolic networks perform some of the most fundamental functions in living cells, including energy transduction and building block biosynthesis. While these are the best characterized networks in living systems, understanding their evolutionary history and complex wiring constitutes one of the most fascinating open questions in biology, intimately related to the enigma of life's origin itself. Is the evolution of metabolism subject to general principles, beyond the unpredictable accumulation of multiple historical accidents? Here we search for such principles by applying to an artificial chemical universe some of the methodologies developed for the study of genome scale models of cellular metabolism. In particular, we use metabolic flux constraint-based models to exhaustively search for artificial chemistry pathways that can optimally perform an array of elementary metabolic functions. Despite the simplicity of the model employed, we find that the ensuing pathways display a surprisingly rich set of properties, including the existence of autocatalytic cycles and hierarchical modules, the appearance of universally preferable metabolites and reactions, and a logarithmic trend of pathway length as a function of input/output molecule size. Some of these properties can be derived analytically, borrowing methods previously used in cryptography. In addition, by mapping biochemical networks onto a simplified carbon atom reaction backbone, we find that several of the properties predicted by the artificial chemistry model hold for real metabolic networks. These findings suggest that optimality principles and arithmetic simplicity might lie beneath some aspects of biochemical complexity.

q-bio.MN↗

arXiv2010

Slow Cooling of an Ising Ferromagnet

A ferromagnetic Ising chain which is endowed with a single-spin-flip Glauber dynamics is investigated. For an arbitrary annealing protocol, we derive an exact integral equation for the domain wall density. This integral equation admits an asymptotic solution in the limit of extremely slow cooling. For instance, we extract an asymptotic of the density of domain walls at the end of the cooling procedure when the temperature vanishes. Slow annealing is usually studied using a Kibble-Zurek argument; in our setting, this argument leads to approximate predictions which are in good agreement with exact asymptotics.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Aggregation-Fragmentation Processes and Wave Kinetics

There is a formal correspondence between the isotropic 3-wave kinetic equation and the rate equations for a non-linear fragmentation--aggregation process. We exploit this correspondence to study analytically the time evolution of the wave frequency power spectrum. Specifically, we analyzed a 3-wave turbulence in which the wave interaction kernel is a constant. We consider both forced and decaying turbulence. In the forced case, the scaling function diverges as $x^{-3/2}$ as expected from Kolmogorov-Zakharov theory. In the decaying case, the scaling function exhibits non-trivial, and hitherto unexpected, divergence with both algebraic and logarithmic spectral exponents which we calculate. This divergence leads to non-trivial decay laws for the total wave action and the number of primary waves. All theoretical predictions are verified with high quality numerical simulations of the 3-wave kinetic equation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Survival of an evasive prey

We study the survival of a prey that is hunted by N predators. The predators perform independent random walks on a square lattice with V sites and start a direct chase whenever the prey appears within their sighting range. The prey is caught when a predator jumps to the site occupied by the prey. We analyze the efficacy of a lazy, minimal-effort evasion strategy according to which the prey tries to avoid encounters with the predators by making a hop only when any of the predators appears within its sighting range; otherwise the prey stays still. We show that if the sighting range of such a lazy prey is equal to 1 lattice spacing, at least 3 predators are needed in order to catch the prey on a square lattice. In this situation, we establish a simple asymptotic relation ln(Pev)(t) \sim (N/V)2ln(Pimm(t)) between the survival probabilities of an evasive and an immobile prey. Hence, when the density of the predators is low N/V<<1, the lazy evasion strategy leads to the spectacular increase of the survival probability. We also argue that a short-sighting prey (its sighting range is smaller than the sighting range of the predators) undergoes an effective superdiffusive motion, as a result of its encounters with the predators, whereas a far-sighting prey performs a diffusive-type motion.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Shepherd Model for Knot-Limited Polymer Ejection from a Capsid

We construct a tractable model to describe the rate at which a knotted polymer is ejected from a spherical capsid via a small pore. Knots are too large to fit through the pore and must reptate to the end of the polymer for ejection to occur. The reptation of knots is described by symmetric exclusion on the line, with the internal capsid pressure represented by an additional biased particle that drives knots to the end of the chain. We compute the exact ejection speed for a finite number of knots L and find that it scales as 1/L. We also construct a continuum theory for many knots that matches the exact discrete theory for large L.

q-bio.QM↗

arXiv2009

Exact solution of a two-type branching process: Clone size distribution in cell division kinetics

We study a two-type branching process which provides excellent description of experimental data on cell dynamics in skin tissue (Clayton et al., 2007). The model involves only a single type of progenitor cell, and does not require support from a self-renewed population of stem cells. The progenitor cells divide and may differentiate into post-mitotic cells. We derive an exact solution of this model in terms of generating functions for the total number of cells, and for the number of cells of different types. We also deduce large time asymptotic behaviors drawing on our exact results, and on an independent diffusion approximation.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2009

Stratification in the Preferential Attachment Network

We study structural properties of trees grown by preferential attachment. In this mechanism, nodes are added sequentially and attached to existing nodes at a rate that is strictly proportional to the degree. We classify nodes by their depth n, defined as the distance from the root of the tree, and find that the network is strongly stratified. Most notably, the distribution f_k^(n) of nodes with degree k at depth n has a power-law tail, f_k^(n) ~ k^{-γ(n)}. The exponent grows linearly with depth, gamma(n)=2+(n-1)/ , where the brackets denote an average over all nodes. Therefore, nodes that are closer to the root are better connected, and moreover, the degree distribution strongly varies with depth. Similarly, the in-component size distribution has a power-law tail and the characteristic exponent grows linearly with depth. Qualitatively, these behaviors extend to a class of networks that grow by a redirection mechanism.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Strong Mobility in Weakly Disordered Systems

We study transport of interacting particles in weakly disordered media. Our one-dimensional system includes (i) disorder: the hopping rate governing the movement of a particle between two neighboring lattice sites is inhomogeneous, and (ii) hard core interaction: the maximum occupancy at each site is one particle. We find that over a substantial regime, the root-mean-square displacement of a particle, sigma, grows super-diffusively with time t, sigma ~ (epsilon t)^{2/3}, where epsilon is the disorder strength. Without disorder the particle displacement is sub-diffusive, sigma ~ t^{1/4}, and therefore disorder dramatically enhances particle mobility. We explain this effect using scaling arguments, and verify the theoretical predictions through numerical simulations. Also, the simulations show that disorder generally leads to stronger mobility.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Logarithmic current fluctuations in non-equilibrium quantum spin chains

We study zero-temperature quantum spin chains which are characterized by a non-vanishing current. For the XX model starting from the initial state |... + + + - - - ...> we derive an exact expression for the variance of the total spin current. We show that asymptotically the variance exhibits an anomalously slow logarithmic growth; we also extract the sub-leading constant term. We then argue that the logarithmic growth remains valid for the XXZ model in the critical region.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Partition of Networks into Basins of Attraction

We study partition of networks into basins of attraction based on a steepest ascent search for the node of highest degree. Each node is associated with, or "attracted" to its neighbor of maximal degree, as long as the degree is increasing. A node that has no neighbors of higher degree is a peak, attracting all the nodes in its basin. Maximally random scale-free networks exhibit different behavior based on their degree distribution exponent $γ$: for small $γ$ (broad distribution) networks are dominated by a giant basin, whereas for large $γ$ (narrow distribution) there are numerous basins, with peaks attracting mainly their nearest neighbors. We derive expressions for the first two moments of the number of basins. We also obtain the complete distribution of basin sizes for a class of hierarchical deterministic scale-free networks that resemble random nets. Finally, we generalize the problem to regular networks and lattices where all degrees are equal, and thus the attractiveness of a node must be determined by an assigned weight, rather than the degree. We derive the complete distribution of basins of attraction resulting from randomly assigned weights in one-dimensional chains.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2008

Front Propagation with Rejuvenation in Flipping Processes

We study a directed flipping process that underlies the performance of the random edge simplex algorithm. In this stochastic process, which takes place on a one-dimensional lattice whose sites may be either occupied or vacant, occupied sites become vacant at a constant rate and simultaneously cause all sites to the right to change their state. This random process exhibits rich phenomenology. First, there is a front, defined by the position of the left-most occupied site, that propagates at a nontrivial velocity. Second, the front involves a depletion zone with an excess of vacant sites. The total excess D_k increases logarithmically, D_k ~ ln k, with the distance k from the front. Third, the front exhibits rejuvenation -- young fronts are vigorous but old fronts are sluggish. We investigate these phenomena using a quasi-static approximation, direct solutions of small systems, and numerical simulations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Exciting Hard Spheres

We investigate the collision cascade that is generated by a single moving incident particle on a static hard-sphere gas. We argue that the number of moving particles at time t grows as t^{xi} and the number collisions up to time t grows as t^{eta}, with xi=2d/(d+2) and eta=2(d+1)/(d+2) and d the spatial dimension. These growth laws are the same as those from a hydrodynamic theory for the shock wave emanating from an explosion. Our predictions are verified by molecular dynamics simulations in d=1 and 2. For a particle incident on a static gas in a half-space, the resulting backsplatter ultimately contains almost all the initial energy.

physics.flu-dyn↗